


Photographs

by Cipheral (MemoriumOracle), MemoriumOracle



Series: The Relics of the Mind [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Abuse, Accidental Plot, Again, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Apocalype, Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Author Dipper Pines, Aversion To Physical Contact, Bill is like, BillDip, Bipolar Disorder, Bisexual Character, Blood and Gore, Cipher Twins - Freeform, Comfort, Demons, Depression, Dipper/Will is only temporary, Dont worry the ending will be happy, Drag Queen Bill Cipher, Emotional Roller Coaster, Falling In Love, Fluff, Forgive me all for I have sinned, Gore, Human Bill Cipher, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Don't Even Know, I Made Myself Cry, I accidentally orphaned this so, I finally figured out how this will end, I never said this was a no magic AU did I?, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, It's Really Sweet, It's not mild, Lesbian Character, Like i think you all will like it, Love at First Sight, Mania, Manic Episodes, Maybe a bit less, Maybe a bit more, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, Moving In Together, Multi, Muses, Oh god dont love Tad, Older Dipper Pines, Older Mabel Pines, Older Pacifica Northwest, Older Pines Twins, Pansexual Character, Please Don't Hate Me, Plot Twists, Possible non-con later on, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, RESTART, Rewrite, Saving Each Other, Seriously forgive me please, Shit is going down, Smut, Soulmates, Suicidal Thoughts, TRUST NO ONE, Tags Contain Spoilers, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, The God of Demons, The King of Hell, The ending will hurt, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, This will be about 20 chapters, Trust Issues, Two Sets Of Twins And Not A Single Straight One In The Bunch, What Have I Done, Why Did I Write This?, all of it has been edited, but guess what, damn it, here we go again, hes seriously a dick, i cant believe I let this happen, just a warning, leaving abusive relationships, letting go, like huge plot twists, like seriously, like way later, mostly in the later chapters, no, nope - Freeform, oh there are plot twists to come, or well, reupload, safe houses, smut in chapter 14, so enjoy, tad is a fucking asshole, there is going to be pain, there's gonna be a sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-08 17:17:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 68,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5506247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoriumOracle/pseuds/Cipheral, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoriumOracle/pseuds/MemoriumOracle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[THIS IS A REUPLOAD. THE ONE ON THE ORPHAN_ACCOUNT WAS ACCIDENTALLY GIVEN UP BY ME WHEN I TRIED TO SWITCH PSEUDS.] After Grunkle Stan's death, Dipper and Mabel move seperate ways; Mabel back to their hometown in California, and Dipper to the small apartment complex on the main street of the small town called Gravity Falls. Dipper never expected that he would find a muse when he moved to the small complex, but there he was, a golden light. Bill Cipher never thought he would escape his hellish relationship. When he sees his new neighbour though, he can't stop the warm spark of interest the brunet causes. Little does anyone know, things are rising up, and when they break forth, the relationship that blooms from a supposed "first meeting" will be at a tremendous risk, as will the sanity of everyone in Gravity Falls. This is the story of two men who are torn between themselves, and the risks that they will take to save each other from the dangers that lurk just out of sight. This is Photographs, and it's a story of deception.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moving In

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is my work, I accidentally gave up custody of it to the orphan account when I tried to switch pseuds. Please check the tags before reading! This fic could be considered triggering and if you are bothered by the things in the tags than let me know in the comments. It doesn't get really bad until later chapters, but the more domestic triggers are nestled in the starting chapters. If you ever need to skip a chapter, let me know and I can give you a summary of the chapter without the triggers.

 

            The few weeks after Grunkle Stan’s death were sad and solemn ones. After the twins’ parents had divorced when they were fourteen, they had gone to live with Stan, leaving their residential area for a small rustic town in Oregon called Gravity Falls. Ever since the move they had become close with their Grunkle. After his funeral, the twins decided that they were going to split their savings over the last ten or so years and move out of Stan’s home. It took them a while, but eventually both Mabel and Dipper had found affordable living places that they lived. Mabel’s apartment was back in their hometown, while Dipper had managed to find a small apartment closer to the central part of Gravity Falls.

            The twins had only been separated for a week at the longest before this, and Dipper wasn’t taking it too well. For the first few nights they had been apart, Dipper found himself jolting awake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, texting Mabel to make sure she was okay. After a week or two of being holed up in his apartment, nothing really unpacked except for his kitchen supplies and food, he decided that he needed to get out of the house for a bit of fresh air and grocery shopping.

            He quickly unpacked the majority of his clothes, putting them away semi-orderly in his dresser and closet alike, got dressed in the last couple clothing items in the box (which were thankfully a blue plaid flannel and white jeans), grabbed his wallet and car keys, and went out the door, almost immediately running into someone.

            This someone was a young man who appeared to be Dipper’s age. He had skin that was a couple shades darker than Dipper’s (Mabel would have gotten technical and called it ‘olive’), a dusting of freckles, a mop of unruly blond hair and stunning dark gold eyes.

            Dipper held out a hand to help the young man up off the ground. The blond just glared at it before getting up on his own. When he stood up, Dipper was surprised. The man was probably a half a foot shorter than Dipper and was, in all honesty, mildly terrifying.

            “Do you usually attack your neighbours when they come to welcome you to the area, or am I a special case?” The blond asked, putting his hands on his slender hips. His voice was light and high, very feminine but still very commanding.

            “I-I’m sorry!” Dipper stumbled over his words, inexplicably flustered by the man. “I was rushing out the door and didn’t look to see if anyone was walking after I closed the door!”

            The man scoffed. “Clearly. You might want to start doing that.” He said, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling. “I’m Bill, Bill Cipher. I’m also your next door neighbour. I work late, so please try to keep noise down in the mornings.” Bill held out his hand for Dipper to shake after he had finished his introduction.

            A little hesitantly, Dipper took it, introducing himself. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dipper Pines. I’m pretty much nocturnal, so you don’t have to worry about morning noise unless my sister comes to visit, which I doubt will happen soon. She’s too busy settling in to her own apartment.”

            “Mmm…” Bill hummed, an air of carelessness about him. “Judging by your tone and the fact that you’ve been yelling in your sleep, oh yeah, our bedrooms are on opposite sides of the wall to each other by the way, you’re really close emotionally but currently halfway across the country from each other? I’m also guessing you’re twins.”

            Dipper stared at him in awe for a moment. “How did you know that?” he asked, his voice involuntarily hushed.

            “I’ve a twin myself.” he shrugged in response. “I know what it’s like.”

            “Well, I guess we have something in common that we could talk about if we run into each other like this again.” Dipper chuckled.

            “Actually, I was going to welcome you to the area with an invitation for dinner at my place tonight. If you want that is.” Bill said, not meeting Dipper’s eyes, “You don’t need to RSVP. Dinner’s at seven sharp tonight and you can show up then if you want, if you don’t then stay home.”

            A little taken by surprise, Dipper responded without thinking: “I’ll be there.”

            It was then that Bill directly looked him in the eye, and he seemed to freeze in time. Gold locked to deep brown and deep brown locked to gold, both seemingly unable to look away from each other. Dipper heard the blood in his ears and felt it running though his veins. It suddenly felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. His heart was racing and he felt out of breath. Suddenly, as fast as it all started, it stopped; their eye contact breaking awkwardly. After standing in an awkward silence for a little while, Dipper spoke up again.

            “So I guess I’ll see you at seven o’clock sharp?” he said, trying to hide a slight voice crack in the middle of the sentence.

            “Uh, yeah. Don’t be late.” Bill said, starting to walk back to his apartment, “And there’ll be dessert so don’t eat for a bit beforehand to make sure you have room for the food!” he added right before closing the door to his apartment.

            Dipper stood outside his own apartment, staring down that hall at where the blond had disappeared. What had happened when they made eye contact? The brunet managed to convince himself that he had imagined it all before going back inside his apartment to finish unpacking, the trip to the grocery store long forgotten.

▲▼▲

            A few boxes of knickknacks, six outfits and three hours later, Dipper was knocking at Bill’s door. He ended up just wearing his outfit from before after realizing that if he changed, it might have given a strange message.

            Nerves jumping, Dipper smiled anxiously as Bill opened the door. Bill looked slightly surprised to see him standing there, pausing for a moment before opening the door fully to let him in.

            “You… you actually showed up.” Bill said, sounding slightly awed.

            “Well, yeah,” Dipper laughed. “I said I would, didn’t I?”

            “I didn’t have high hopes of you showing up.” Bill moved aside to let Dipper into his apartment.

            “I’m guessing you don’t have many decently mannered guests then.” Dipper muttered as he stepped in, taking in his surroundings. Bill’s apartment was seemingly minimalistic when it came to furniture. He had a simple two-person dining table in a corner of the living room, a plain white couch in front of which was a glass coffee table were situated in the middle of the living room facing a TV stand. On the first tier of the TV stand was a high-tech sound system it seemed. On the second was a DVD player, a large stack of CDs and a pile of DVDs, and finally the TV was on the third and top level.

            “I was just serving dinner onto the plates; you can take a seat at the dining table.” Bill said, walking into the kitchen and serving a second plate.

            Dipper smiled and thanked him before sitting down at the seat tucked into the corner. He would have sat in the other chair but he didn’t want to make Bill feel trapped in his own home. Bill brought the food over and Dipper had to make a conscious effort to not drool at the smell. If it tasted anywhere near as good as it smelled, Dipper would be in heaven.

            “It’s homemade lasagna. Sorry it’s nothing special.” Bill muttered, sitting in the other seat.

            Dipper laughed. “It smells better than anything I’ve ever eaten before, and I bet it tastes even better.” His words caused Bill to blush a bit and look down at his plate.

            Picking up the fork, Dipper cut a piece of lasagna off and popped it in his mouth. He tried to stop himself, but a slight quiet moan escaped him when he tasted the food, causing Bill to laugh heartily.

            “It’s that good, huh?” Bill chuckled, “Thanks.”

            “Even if I were to get the recipe, I wouldn’t be able to make it.” Dipper said, grinning widely at the blond across the table.

            “It’s surprisingly easy to make actually,” Bill said, a light showing up in his eyes as he sat up a little bit straighter. “I can give you the recipe if you want.”

            “I don’t want it,” Dipper replied, “Mainly because it wouldn’t taste this good. You’re a really good chef, you know that right?”

            This caused Bill to look back down, grinning and blushing like a fool.

            “Do you know that?” Dipper asked, taking another bite of the lasagna. “Or at least has anyone ever told you that?”

            Bill shook his head, his sunny grin turning into a frown. “I don’t get compliments often…” he mumbled.

            Dipper sighed offhandedly. He didn’t know why but he felt the need to make Bill feel better. He felt responsible for keeping Bill happy and safe. It was an odd feeling, one that he remembered quite vividly from his time with Mabel but he couldn’t put an exact name to. He reached over and gently touched Bill’s arm, the blond looking up at him with a weak smile.

            “Thanks,” Bill said, a grateful look in his eyes. “I’m serious, thank you. I really needed that right now. It’s been a rough couple weeks for me and I haven’t had a pick-me-up in over a month.”

            Dipper grinned widely at him. “If you ever need another, knock anytime or feel free to call me. I’ll give you my number after.”

            While they talked and ate, the air of tension and awkwardness slowly melted away as they became more familiar with each other. When they finished, Bill took their plates to the kitchen, a comfortable silence settling over the two of them. Quietly in the background, music played.

            “You like Ed Sheeran?” Dipper asked as Bill served dessert onto smaller plates.

            Bill laughed lightly. “Yeah, you would be surprised at how diverse my music taste is. I listen to everything from Black Veil Brides to Nicki Minaj to Mozart.”

            “That’s a wide range.” Dipper nodded appreciatively, “What are your favourites though, because you seem more like a Panic! at the Disco kind of person.”

            “You’re pretty much dead on there. I’m a pretty big fan of Panic, Fall out Boy, MCR, Twenty One Pilots and Muse but I will never deny just how much I love Ed Sheeran.” Bill replied, bringing plates with warm cherry pie on them to the table. “I mean, this is probably my favourite song ever. I just find it so sweet and romantic.”

            Dipper had been humming it up until this point. When Bill said that he began to sing: “So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans, holding me closer ‘till our eyes meet, you won’t ever be alone, wait for me to come home…” he trailed off, their eyes meeting again. There was a jolt and he felt his mouth go dry. The pull he felt from before was so much stronger now and he was sure now that this wasn’t his imagination playing tricks on him. They were locked on each other’s eyes and they weren’t looking away any time soon. The rush lasted. The two of them stared for what seemed to be forever but could have only been a few seconds. When Dipper and Bill snapped out of it, they were standing almost pressed against each other. Dipper didn’t remember moving, let alone standing up but there he was, face to face with Bill.

            The two of them jumped back at the same time, laughing awkwardly and looking anywhere but at each other, both red in the face. Dipper sat down in his seat again, picking up the dessert fork. Bill on the other hand, stayed standing. He looked mad at himself for some reason.

            “Bill are you-” Dipper started, though he was quickly cut off by Bill.

            “Do you want something to drink?” he asked, turning to go into the kitchen.

            “I’m good…” Dipper replied. He was worried about Bill’s sudden attitude change. Was Bill suddenly uncomfortable with having Dipper in his apartment? I would make sense going by what just happened. Dipper’s mind reeled with worst case scenarios and anxiety. When Bill sat back down at the table, Dipper muttered “Sorry…”

            Bill sighed. “It’s not your fault. I’ve got some stuff on my mind and whatever that was isn’t doing anything to help.” He explained, “But I just want to forget about my stress right now, so let’s eat.”

            The rest of the evening passed rather uneventfully. They ate, drank and had small talk, not bringing up what happened earlier. When they finished, Bill walked Dipper back to his apartment.

            “I almost forgot!” Dipper pulled out his phone, “Exchange numbers?”

            Bill nodded, taking his own phone out. “Should we trade to exchange numbers?” He asked, holding out his phone with a blank contact open. They swapped phones and quickly typed in their numbers before switching back and typing in a contact name.

            “I’ll text you some time.” Bill said, shrugging.

            Dipper nodded, “Yeah, I’ll see you around.”

            Once Bill left, Dipper went into his apartment, slumping against the inside of the door and running a hand though his hair. He was hopelessly infatuated with his neighbour and there was nothing he could do about it. Dipper sat there for a while with his head in his hands, trying to stop himself from thinking too much on all of it. It didn’t work. If anything he made it all worse. The only reason he stood up after an hour or so was to get some painkillers to stop the headache he gave himself.

            “Okay, you need to get some work done.” He told himself, taking out his laptop.

            Four hours and very little progress later, Dipper gave up on his novel to open a new document. He started to write down different thoughts of his: new ideas for stories, how he felt in the confrontations of Bill, and reminders for his current novel. None of it was in any particular order and when he had finally emptied his mind there was over six and a half pages written. No wonder he had had a headache earlier.

            As he was closing down his laptop for the night, a knock on the door caught his attention. He looked at the clock. It read two-thirty in the morning. Dipper’s eyes widened. Whoever it was that was knocking at his door at this time was either drunk, in need of aid, or both. Checking the peephole, he was a bit shocked to see that it was Bill standing there, full clad in his pyjamas and a worried look on his face.

            “Bill? Is everything okay?” Dipper asked, opening the door.

            Silently, Bill shook his head. “Do you think I could stay the night?” he mumbled, seeming to shrink in on himself as he said it.

            “Of course,” Dipper said, moving aside to let him in. “What’s wrong?”

            Bill shook his head again as Dipper closed the door. “It’s a long story that I don’t exactly have the urge to recite just yet.” Bill’s voice was quiet and timid when he spoke. “If someone knocks on the door and asks if you’ve seen me, please just say that you haven’t, for both of our sakes.”

            Dipper led Bill over to his couch, putting a spare blanket into the blond’s arms. “Now you’ve got me really worried. What’s going on?”

            Bill sighed, “I got into a fight with my boyfriend and it got nasty, so I need a safe place to stay until it all calms down… for now at least.”

            “What do you mean ‘for now’?”

            “This is a normal occurrence. It’s not usually this bad though.”

            Dipper sat down beside Bill, concern in his eyes. “What usually happens?” he asked.

            Bill audibly gulped. It was clear that he was lying when he said that it usually wasn’t that bad, but Dipper wanted to know just how bad it actually was and just how concerned he had to be for the smaller male.

            “Let’s just say he doesn’t like what I do as a profession.” Bill muttered, looking down. “But I really like what I do. It’s fun and it brings in a lot of money. Add in the fact that I’m extremely good at what I do makes the stigma that accompanies it mean nothing to me.”

            Dipper grimaced. “I feel like there’s another but to the statement.”

            Bill nodded and tucked his knees beneath his chin. “I’m made to feel like shit about liking my line of work. I refuse to call it a job because jobs are tedious and boring whereas what I do, at least I find, is really fun and exciting.”

            “And what is it that you do?” Dipper asked, honestly curious about Bill’s line of work. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I promise that I won’t judge you for it.”

            Bill turned to look at Dipper, seeming both nervous and suspicious before blurting out: “I’m a drag queen.”

            Dipper smiled. “That’s awesome! It seems like it would be fun and I don’t doubt for a second that you’re amazing at it.”

            “Wait, you’re not… repelled or anything now that you know?” Bill asked, his nervousness replaced with a genuine curiosity.

            “Not at all. If anything I really want to some see one of your shows sometime.”

            At this Bill smiled, nerves seemingly all gone. Then there was another knock at the door and Bill was frozen in fear, eyes wide and his entire body shaking. Dipper leaned over and whispered in his ear: “Go to my room and stay there until I come to get you, okay?”

            Bill got up and silently ran to hide in Dipper’s room. Dipper waited until he heard his bedroom door close quietly before he opened the door to his apartment.

            “Have you seen this man?” a voice said as a picture of Bill was shoved in Dipper’s face. He pushed the picture down so he could see who was standing in his doorway.

            The man facing him was a little bit taller than Dipper and rather unassuming. He had red hair and hazel eyes with a thin frame. You wouldn’t immediately think that this man would be capable of making someone as confident as Bill cower like this.

            Dipper shook his head. “I’m afraid not. I saw him a few hours ago when I went to get my laundry before the laundry room was closing for the night but that’s it. I think he was going out for the night.” He lied.

            The man let out a noise that Dipper could only describe as a growl. “Well if you see him tell him that Luke is looking for him.” He said before whipping around and walking away.

            Dipper grimaced as he closed the door and locked it. He walked to his room with a sour taste in his mouth. Opening the door he saw that Bill was wrapped up in the blankets, trying to make himself look as small as possible.

            “Hey,” Dipper said, his voice soft and gentle. “He’s gone and I locked the door. I don’t think he’ll be back tonight.”

            Bill nodded and buried deeper into the blankets. Dipper walked over and sat down beside him.

            “You can sleep here in my bed tonight. I’ll stay on the couch.” He said, “And no arguing that, okay? I’m insisting on this.”

            Once again, Bill nodded but that was the only movement the blond made. Dipper sighed. He could tell this was going to be a long night

▲▼▲

            A creak and shuffling was what woke Dipper up the next day. Cracking open his eyes, he saw a small figure walking into the kitchen. Sitting up, he remembered what had happened the previous night. He had managed to get Bill to sleep, but just barely. The small blond kept being woken by nightmares in cold sweats, thus keeping Dipper up the majority of the night and early morning but he wasn’t going to complain if it meant that he was able to help his neighbour get a safe, although not very sound, sleep.

            Bill was still in his pyjamas from the previous night. His hair was mussed from a restless sleep and his eyes were red, apparently from crying, Dipper thought, noticing tear stains on his face. The blond was trying to reach something on one of the higher shelves in the pantry; standing on his tiptoes, a bit of his stomach being exposed as he stretched up.

            Even though Dipper found the sight endearing, reminding him of his time with his sister Mabel, he knew that he would feel like he was being cruel if he didn’t help Bill. Getting up he asked: “Need some help there?”

            Bill jumped violently, almost upsetting one of the shelves as he whipped around to see Dipper. When he recognized who was walking toward him, he relaxed immediately. “I was trying to get the pancake mix,” he croaked, his voice hoarse.

            Dipper chuckled at this. “You could have asked me to get it for you.”

            A small smile tugged at the corners of Bill’s mouth. “I didn’t want to wake you up…” he mumbled.

            “It wouldn’t have been a problem, Bill.” Dipper reached up and got the box of pancake mix, handing it to Bill with a gentle smile.

            Bill took the box and held it close while Dipper used his thumb to wipe the tear tracks away. The brunet felt his heart go heavy when he felt that they were fresh.

            “Hey, um, you know how you mentioned how you would like to see one of my shows some time?” Bill said quietly, looking up at Dipper. “Well, I’ve got a performance tonight if you’d like to come see it. I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to; it’s completely up to you. I wouldn’t be offe-”

            “I would love to come see your show, Bill.” Dipper cut in before Bill could rant any longer.

            A light showed up in the blond’s eyes. It was something that Dipper hadn’t seen yet in Bill. Something he definitely enjoyed seeing. It was quickly extinguished as a look of nervous realization washed over his face.

            “I have to get my makeup from my apartment and Luke’s looking for me. He doesn’t know I preform tonight, at least.” The blond tensed when Dipper put a hand on his shoulder.

            “I’ll go with you to get your makeup. You can bring it over here if you want so you don’t have to stay where Luke can find you any longer than you need as well.”

            Bill nodded thankfully. He and Dipper stood in a slightly awkward silence until the brunet cleared his throat to break it. “Well, um,” his voice cracked rather badly. “Would you like to run over there now or would you rather wait and have breakfast first?”

            “Can we have breakfast first?” Bill asked timidly, holding out the box of pancake mix.

            Dipper laughed. “Yeah, I think we can have breakfast first.”

            This caused Bill to smile. The small blond started to hurry around the kitchen, taking things out of cupboards and the fridge, setting it all up on the counter around a large mixing bowl. Bill was zipping around, mixing and whisking away. Dipper was doing his best to stay out of Bill’s way when he quickly dove into the kitchen to get plates, cutlery and condiments but the blond danced around him with grace. The brunet couldn’t help but watch in awe at how smooth Bill’s movements were. He was quickly snapped out of his trance when Bill started pouring the batter into a pan. Dipper didn’t remember seeing him take it out.

            Dipper set the table, and then shortly after, the food was served. The two of them ate in a comfortable silence. When they finished, Dipper took the plates and cutlery and put them in the sink while Bill put the condiments away. Nervously, Bill and Dipper went to get Bill’s makeup and anything else he might need, including his phone. They went in and out without incident, but that didn’t calm Bill down at all. If anything, the lack of confrontation made the smaller male’s nerves worse. He managed to do his makeup fine, no shaky lines or bad blending, but after he finished, he was a complete mess.

            In an attempt to calm Bill down, Dipper made some milk tea. It seemed to help a little bit, but Bill’s nerves still seemed to be wired for sound. He was still a total shaking mess, but he didn’t seem to be on the verge of crying anymore. Dipper took this as a good sign for the moment.

            When it was time for them to leave for Bill’s club, it seemed that his entire attitude had changed. He was walking with his head held a little high, his back a little straighter, and a fiery passion in his eyes that entranced Dipper.

            They drove to the club in complete silence. On arrival, Bill got Dipper in early and free of charge. Choosing a seat near the front, Dipper waited. He played on his phone a bit until the doors opened and people started to fill the place up.

            A heavy beat was thrumming though the speakers as the first performer came on stage. She gave a quick speech to welcome everyone and announced that there was a special main act this evening before she was replaced with another performer who was accompanied by green lights. Two more acts came on after hers, each accompanied by different coloured lighting, before the main act was announced.

            The mood of the music changed completely as the lights changed to gold and a light, slightly hysteric laugh filled the air. A blonde beauty stepped out from the right of the stage, an ethereal air about her.

            “Hello and welcome again,” she said to a rousing applause. “I’m Cipheress, and you’re about to see a magical show!”


	2. Standing Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Cipheress dances to at the start of this chapter is Casual Affair by Panic! at the Disco. You cna check it out on YouTube. Also, the song that Dipper sang a bit in the previous chapter was Photographs by Ed Sheeran. I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but oh well.

Dipper was amazed at the person who was standing on the stage before him. While Bill was beautiful to look at, Cipheress was on an otherworldly level of beauty. Her hair was styled in a loose up-do and her glittery gold dress clung to her like a second skin. The biggest differences between Bill and Cipheress were the height and level of confidence. Thanks to her high heels, Cipheress was more than a few inches taller, probably about Dipper’s height even. Also, while Bill had seemed rather timid at times, Cipheress oozed confidence. It was obvious that Dipper was going to have to learn two very difference parts of the same person if he was ever going to have a chance with the ethereal being of his infatuation.

            A strumming beat started as Cipheress handed the microphone to someone off stage, a small headset replacing it. Gold stilettos pranced around the stage while thin hips dipped and swayed with every note of the music. Cipheress’ voice filled the club, changing the mood with her tone.

            “Just lay in the atmosphere,                

            A casual affair

            Lay in the atmosphere

            A casual affair, whoa!”

            At the chorus Cipheress turned tightly on her heel and pointed at Dipper, their eyes meeting. Dipper’s breath caught in his throat, a rush of blood flowing south and causing his mind to haze slightly. He watched Cipheress dance around the stage, unable to look away even if he wanted to. She did two more songs after the first, paying no attention to Dipper in either. At the end of her performance, Cipheress bowed and walked backstage, being replaced with a cheery redhead.

            After the redhead, whose name was apparently Firecracker, someone tapped Dipper on the shoulder. Turning behind him, he saw a tall lanky girl with pitch dark hair.

            “Cipheress wants to see you.” She said, her voice warm. “Follow me.”

            Nervously, Dipper got up and followed the girl to a door behind the bar.

            “Her dressing room is the first door on the right when you turn the corner.”

            Dipper nodded and continued walking. His stomach was turning and flipping and he had no way to calm it down. When he knocked on the door a familiar voice called: “It’s open!”

            “You, uh, wanted to see me?” Dipper asked, feeling very out of place around Cipheress.

            Cipheress was sitting on a small overstuffed couch against the far wall of the dressing room. She was out of the gold dress and was now wearing a soft white bathrobe. The most extravagant parts of her makeup had been replaced with more subtle colours and softer lines. Even without the show makeup, Dipper’s breath caught at how ethereal she looked. A soft tune played in the background.

            “Yeah,” Bill’s voice and persona was back in full swing, a heavy tone lacing his voice. “I’ve got something to tell you.”

            This confused Dipper. Bill was oddly serious compared to earlier.

            “What is it?” he asked.

            “I mean this in the nicest way, okay? I was to get that out there first.” Bill sighed deeply, his shoulders sagging. “We can’t have any more contact unless it’s simple passerby stuff, okay? I can handle myself and I don’t need help.”

            Dipper felt like his world had begun to crash down. The only person that he had any possibility of being friends with was cutting ties with him. He forced himself to put on a façade of aloofness.

            “If you want to cut ties with me then that’s fine. It’s your choice and I don’t have a say in your life. But I’m not letting you deny a drive home. Plus your makeup is at my place, so you need to get that.” Dipper said, doing his best to ignore the painful tightness in his chest.

            Bill nodded, “Fine.”

            With that Dipper waited in the hall for Bill to change. They drove back to the apartments in uncomfortable and, to Dipper, pained silence. Bill went and got his makeup from Dipper’s bathroom, departing without another word. Once Bill had left, Dipper slumped against the back of his door, his face in his hands. He didn’t know why but he felt empty. His chest ached with a strange hollowness that he had never experienced before. His vision blurred a bit through his fingers, and his hands felt wet suddenly. When did he start crying? Why was he even crying? Nothing made sense at the moment and it made Dipper frustrated. He hated being confused and at that point in time, everything was confusing. His feelings, his situation with Bill, his work, the evening before and that day, all of it was a jumbled mess in his brain but one thing stood out above the rest. He had just been told by his only friend that they couldn’t have contact anymore.

            Thinking that and setting it in stone made a sob choke out of Dipper’s throat. After the first one, the rest followed. He sat like that for hours; crying at his front door. He cried until the first rays of dawn started shining through his curtains. After that, he started moving as if on autopilot. He felt nothing as he went to the kitchen and washed the dishes. His usual day passed without feeling anything except that hollowness in his core. If he were to give it a proper description, he would have to say that it felt like someone took out his heart and left an empty space there, while putting pressure on his chest.

            It didn’t get better after that day either. For weeks, Dipper functioned on autopilot. Doing groceries for only necessities, choking down at least one meal a day, and changing his clothes, none of it seemed important anymore. None of it seemed like it was normal, but just instinctive. He hadn’t even seen Bill since the fateful night, but every time he thought of the blond, his heart seemed to return for a moment, a mixture of warmth and pain in equal amounts flowing though him.

            It was a month after their last encounter and Dipper caught a glimpse of Bill bringing his laundry back. The blond looked terrible. He had dark, deep bags under his eyes and his previously shimmering hair was dull and limp. His eyes struck a large chord of worry in Dipper though. The bright gold pools had been brought down to a dull, murky, yellowish colour. His lanky form had become bony and appeared malnourished. He seemed to droop when he walked as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. In short, he looked as bad as Dipper felt.

            After the glimpse Dipper had caught, there was no other sight for another month or two and the weather was getting colder.

            Dipper was in a park, sitting there with a notebook, jotting down things that he might be able to use in his novel. Nothing really caught his eye except for a small blond walking with a taller redhead. Immediately, Dipper noticed many things about the two. First, Bill seemed to be making himself as small as he possibly could to avoid catching anyone’s eye, though Dipper had come to terms with the fact that he would always notice Bill no matter what. Second, the redhead, Luke, was walking with a presence that seemed to dominate over Bill’s by a landslide. And third, Bill was noticeably freezing and Luke didn’t seem to care.

            Surprising himself, Dipper got up and closed his book before walking over to them. It was the first time he had talked to anyone face to face that wasn’t his sister in months. And of course it was probably going to start a fight.

            Luke looked at Dipper walking over to him and Bill with a disdainful look. “Can I help you?” he asked, sneering.

            “Actually, you can’t. But, I think that you can help him a bit.” Dipper nodded towards Bill, noticing the blond shrink a bit. “It’s clear that he’s freezing, and you won’t even put an arm around him or lend him your sweater to help him warm up a bit. Rather a dick move, don’t you think?”

            “Excuse you?” Luke spat, “You think you can tell me how to treat my partner?”

            Dipper shook his head, noticing that the hollowness that was in him seemed a bit less now. “No, I’m simply stating that you’re being a bit of a dick.”

            At this, Bill looked up. He looked worse off than the last time Dipper saw him, but there was a small something in his eyes that made Dipper’s heart warm up a bit.

            Luke rolled his eyes. “Does it seem like I care what you think? You’re just a nosy prick and you should learn how to mind your own business from time to time.”

            “Well, when the person that was so warm when he and I met looks like he’s been through hell and back in your presence then I think that’s something that I can get a bit involved in.” Dipper said, confidence flowing though him.

            At that, Bill stood a bit straighter. Dipper realized what the light in his eyes had been. Hope. Bill had been hopeful when Dipper showed up. That’s when something else clicked in the brunet’s mind. When Bill had told Dipper that he didn’t want to talk anymore, it had been a test. Bill had deflated in the moment that Dipper told him that they didn’t have to talk, and Dipper had only just realized it. Bill never wanted to cut ties with Dipper, he had wanted Dipper to stand up and say what he really thought.

            “You have no say in this, you asshole. Now, just leave us alone and get back to whatever the fuck it was you were doing before.” Luke scoffed and turned away. “Come on, Bill. We have shopping to do still.”

            Dipper looked at Bill and nodded. It was time that Bill tried to stand up to the jerk that had been pushing him around for so long. Bill gulped and stood his ground, closing his eyes tightly. “No…” he said quietly.

            Luke turned around with wide eyes. The look on his face was actually frightening, even to Dipper. No wonder Bill had closed his eyes. “Excuse me? Did you not hear me? Let’s go, we still have things to do.”

            Bill took a deep breath. It seemed that Dipper’s presence alone gave him more confidence. "No, _you_ have things to do. I’m not going with you. Pine tree here is right, I’m freezing and I want to go home.” He said, opening his eyes, a fire burning inside them that Dipper hadn’t seen in a while.

            Luke glared at Dipper and then at Bill. “We. Are. Going. Now.” He snapped quietly.

            “No. _We_ aren’t. _You_ are.” Bill said, emphasising his point. “I’m sick of being dragged along with you whenever you need something to show that you’re supposedly stronger. I’m done with being your punching bag, both mentally and physically. You’re a coward who uses other people for his own benefit. Newsflash, people are not property. No kindly go fuck yourself with a cactus.” A small snarky smile was shot at the redhead at the end.

            Luke stomped up to Dipper. “You aren’t going to enjoy it if you see me again, so you better pray that you don’t run into me ever again.” He hissed.

            Dipper smiled pleasantly. “Oh, I think it will be the other way around. You see, I spent my childhood chopping wood and carrying stock up to the attic and back down again, and I still have that strength. You’ll regret it if you pick a fight with me.”

            And with that, Luke stormed off, cursing and swearing under his breath the whole way. Bill looked over at Dipper who was waving sarcastically at the retreating redhead. Feeling eyes on him, Dipper looked down at the blond.

            “Welcome back.” They said in sync. Neither was exactly sure why they were saying that, or what they were welcoming the other back to, but it felt like the right thing to say.

            “Want to go back to the apartments and warm up? I’ve got a new recipe for hot chocolate that I’ve been meaning to try out, and I think I know a good test subject.” Bill said, rubbing the back of his neck.

            “You know how I feel about your cooking, even if it was just two meals, they were the best meals I’ve ever had.” Dipper chuckled. “Oh, also, take this.” He took off his jacket and put it around Bill’s shoulders.

            As they began to walk back to the apartments, Dipper noticed something. The empty feeling was gone, replaced with a radiating warmth.

▲▼▲

            Now that Bill and Dipper were talking again, the days flew by in each other’s presence. They learned a lot about the other during their time together. Dipper got to know more about Bill and Bill’s brother, Will. It was when Mabel made a surprise visit to Dipper that really got things started between the two.

            Bill had been staying over at Dipper’s on the nights that he performed, mainly because Dipper was his ride to and from the club. This meant that the two of them usually ended up spending most of the next day in the company of each other. It was one of those days, when they were just sitting around on Dipper’s laptop, that a surprise knock came.

            Dipper, confused, went and checked the peephole, both he and Bill were still on guard thanks to Luke, and what he saw had him throwing open the door. He grabbed his sister in a bear hug before he saw a familiar dolled-up face behind her.

            “Pacifica!?” Dipper exclaimed, letting go of Mabel. “What took you so long to come visit me?” he said, mock scorn in his voice.

            She chuckled, “I’ve been out and about with your sister. Why didn’t you keep in touch?”

            Dipper glanced behind him at a befuddled Bill. Unfortunately, Pacifica caught his quick glance and raised an eyebrow.

            “Oh my god, Paz, not like that!” he groaned, hiding his face as it got steadily redder.

            Mabel started laughing, pushing past Dipper and making herself welcome. She was shortly followed by Pacifica, who was smirking at Dipper still.

            “Hello! I’m Mabel, Dipper’s twin sister.” Mabel had gone straight to Bill, just as Dipper expected, while Pacifica hung back a bit. “I’m guessing you’re Bill. Dipper never shuts up about you when we talk on the phone.”

            Bill had shrunk into the back of the couch. Dipper probably should have warned Mabel about Bill’s shot nerves and how he’s rather shy if you’re a busy person. The brunet walked over after closing the door and put a hand on Bill’s shoulder. Right away the small bag of nerves calmed and relaxed. Dipper started massaging Bill’s shoulders to keep himself from flitting around his apartment. Noticing what he doing, Pacifica’s smirk grew, causing both Bill and Dipper to blush.

            “It’s nice to meet you, Bill.” Pacifica said, he smirk turning into a kind smile. “I’m Pacifica, but you can call me Paz.”

            Bill nodded. “It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Bill Cipher.” He said, seeming to have calmed down much more, though he was still ridiculously tense. “You’re Mabel, huh? You’re exactly how Pine Tree here described you. Your personality’s kind of like a shooting star, isn’t it? That’s what I’ll call you, Shooting Star!”

            Pacifica made an odd face when she heard Mabel’s nickname. Bill wasted no time in giving her and even more ridiculous one.

            “And you’re going to be Llama, for a multitude of reasons.” He stated, leaving little room for argument.

            One of the things that Dipper noticed about Bill was that he loved to give nicknames. Sadly, most of those nicknames were rather ridiculous and they tended to stick. Pacifica’s nickname was probably the weirdest one that Dipper had heard yet, and he was called Pine Tree. He also noticed that nobody questioned this habit that Bill had, or the nickname they were given; nobody but Pacifica that is.

            “And those reasons are?” she asked, looking offended.

            Bill just gestured to all of her in response.

            Pacifica opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by Mabel. “How about we go out for lunch?”  She suggested, clapping her hands together.

            Dipper and Bill groaned in unison, looking down at their pyjamas. After a few minutes, Bill sighed.

            “I could make something instead.” He suggested. “I really don’t feel like going out, at least for the moment. Maybe we can go out for dinner later.”

            “That sounds good to me.” Mabel said, smiling at the boys. “By the way, you guys… when did you wake up?”

             Dipper and Bill looked at each other. “About twenty minutes before you showed up,” Dipper said, expressionless.

            “What!?” Mabel exclaimed. “Why did you guys sleep so late into the day?”

            Bill looked at Dipper, seemingly trying to gauge if he could tell Mabel and not get a big reaction. Dipper nodded at him to signal that it would be fine.

            “We didn’t get home until about four in the morning because I had a show.” Bill said, leaning forwards as Dipper moved his hands to his shoulder blades and massaging there.

            “You’re really tense the morning after you have a show, by the way.” Dipper stated calmly. “We should probably get a muscle relaxant and that you can put on before you go to sleep, or at least a hot water bottle.”

            “Show? What do you mean?” Pacifica asked, a curiosity piquing her voice.

            Bill rolled his eyes. “I was getting to that, you didn’t have to ask,” there was a mock exasperation in his voice. “I’m a Drag Queen. I sing and perform at a club a few times a week, and Pine Tree here gives me rides to and from the nights I go. We usually get back really late, so I end up just crashing here a lot.”

            Mabel gasps, “Do you need any help with your costumes and outfits?”

            Sipper sighed, smiling. He should have known that Mabel would want to help with clothing, it was in her nature.

            “No, I’ve got it covered.” Bill responded, waving his hand nonchalantly. “I’ve got tons of costumes in stock at the club and in my own apartment ready to go.”

            Mabel seemed to deflate a bit when her help was denied. She had always enjoyed helping others, especially if it involved things like glitter or costumes. She was just that kind of person.

            “Anyways,” Dipper said, “How about breakfast, lunch, whatever it is.”

            “What should I make?” Bill asked, getting up and rolling his shoulders to loosen them further. “If I don’t have the ingredients here, which is unlikely because I’ve been forcing him to buy better and more things when shopping, then I’ll most likely have it at my place.”

            “What about those double chocolate pancakes that you made a while ago?” Dipper suggested. “Those were really good.”

            “Yeah, I think I can do that. You know the recipe book I use, go get it while I get the supplies I need to make them.” Bill walked to the kitchen, grabbing an apron off a rack on the wall.

            The usual organized chaos ensued there on out. Mabel and Pacifica stared in awe at how Dipper and Bill spun and flitted around each other in the kitchen. Dipper had long since learned to maneuver around Bill in the kitchen. They passed each other things they needed occasionally, working with and around each other as needed. It was an impressive feat for those who weren’t used to seeing people work so naturally with each other.

            That day passed rather simply. They ate brunch (Mabel was the one to dub it that), then the boys went and got dressed and the four went out for the day. They went shopping, visited old monuments they loved from their childhood, and ate dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was getting late, and Mabel and Pacifica had to go back to their hotel. Dipper and Bill saw them off with light hearts before returning to the apartments. When they got back, Bill seemed a bit awkward. Dipper tried to ignore it, but when Bill refused to look at him for the third time, he knew something was up.

            “Bill is everything okay?” Dipper asked. “You seem off.”

            The blond nodded, staying silent. The blond hadn’t spoken since they saw Mabel and Pacifica off at the restaurant, and Dipper was getting more and more concerned by the second.

            “Look me in the eye and say that.” Dipper said. He had long since gotten used to the jolt and adrenaline rush he felt when they made eye contact. But it still was a trill he loved and left him breathless.

            He prepared for the rush when he saw Bill turn his head, but it didn’t come. Bill had turned and promptly buried his face in Dipper’s chest, surprising the brunet. Dipper opened his mouth a took a breath, about to ask what was wrong, but Bill just shook his head, indicating that he didn’t want to talk about it.

            Dipper lay down on the couch and pulled Bill onto his lap, holding him there. This wasn’t a new occurrence, so Dipper knew what to do. It had happened once before, and that was when Luke had shown up at Dipper’s door while he and Bill were having dinner, demanding to talk to Bill, who was adamantly refusing. It seemed that Bill got like this when he had a sensory overload during the day at some point and just needed to cool down and relax his mind.

            After some time, Dipper spoke up. “I think that going to bed would be a good idea. I know I’m not going to get any of my work done, and it’s been a long and exhausting day.”

            Bill nodded in response, getting off Dipper so the brunet could get up. Dipper started to walk to his bedroom, but stopped after a moment. Looking behind him, he saw Bill still standing in the middle of the living room. Bill’s eyes were blank and glassy and he was staring blankly ahead of him. Sighing, Dipper walked back over to Bill, knowing another restless night was on its way.

            “Come on, you can stay in my bed tonight.” He said, putting a hand on Bill’s shoulder. Bill looked up at him. "I don't want to make you sleep out here.” He said quietly in response.

            This made Dipper laugh, “We can share my bed. It’s big enough for two.” He suggested.

            Bill paused, seemingly thinking about it. Eventually he shrugged, unable to think of any other ideas.

            It being decided, the two men trudged off to bed. In the bedroom though, more confusion ensued. There was a slight argument on who got which side of the bed, and they couldn’t find Bill’s pyjamas for the life of them.

            “I put them in the top drawer on the right. I remember this clearly.” Bill said, sitting on the edge of Dipper’s bed. “You probably moved them.”

            Dipper rolled his eyes. “Or they’re in the laundry with the stuff from yesterday and this morning.”

            This made the blond sigh. “Why didn’t we think of this in the first place?” he asked.

            “We’re tired and that’s not something we’d usually think of even when fully awake.”

            “Point taken”

            Dipper sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “You can borrow a pair of mine tonight,” he said. “I don’t want you to be wearing dirty clothes when there’s a ton of perfectly clean clothes that are free to wear.”

            “Would your clothes even fit me? You’re a giant compared to me.”

            Holding up a folded pair of boxers and a plaid flannel, Dipper smiled. “There’s only one way to find out.”

            Bill took them and disappeared into the bathroom down the hall. A few minutes later, he re-emerged, looking extremely tiny in Dipper’s flannel. With an indignant huff, he curled up on the side they dubbed as his for the night as Dipper went off the bathroom to do his evening routine. When he went back to his room, he found Bill fast asleep. He lay down next to the blond, back to back, and dozed off quickly.

            That night though, Bill dreamt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a lot out of me. Sorry it was so dialog heavy, but I needed it to be to make up for the lack thereof in the next chapter.
> 
> The background song for when they were in Cipheress' changeroom is Postcards by Ed Sheeran (there's a lot of Ed Sheeran in this fic tbh).
> 
> Warning ahead of time: the next chapter is from Bill's POV and it's more of a flashback chapter of his time with Luke. A very large part of it is at least. The end should be back to happy(ish) Billdip morning routines.
> 
> I'm selling my soul and time to this fic and barely passing French for all of you.


	3. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is where it starts to get trigger-y. This isn't a chapter used to further the plot a lot, but more to understand Bill and what those months apart were like for him. If you want to skip the major triggers go the the first set of triangles. After the second set, that's where we go back to Dipper's POV and the main timeline of plot.

It was dark in Bill’s apartment. He had gotten home and went straight for his liquor. He rarely ever touched anything harder than beer, but he certainly had a very large collection of it. Fishing out a half-empty bottle of whiskey, he made his way to the couch and fell onto it. Bill knew he was going to regret not taking his makeup off before drinking but he was in no mood to put effort into self-care at the moment.

            He replayed the scene from the club in his mind, pain shooting to his heart at the memory of Dipper in those moments. Dipper had been calm when Bill had told him that he wanted to cut contact, he was pleasant even. What Bill really that horrible company?

            Deciding that it would be easier to forget his troubles than face them, he took another drink. When he started to feel a buzz come on, he decided that sleep would be the best idea. Putting the whiskey on the coffee table, Bill trudged his way to his dingy bathroom to wash the makeup off.

            Bill looked at himself in the mirror in disdain. Even with the makeup, there were visible bags under his eyes, though he managed to convince his half-drunk self that it was just the lighting. Taking a warm cloth and soap, he scrubbed his face, making sure to get every crevice. He scrubbed until his face felt raw. When he finally couldn’t make another excuse for him to keep scrubbing, he splashed his face with cool water to help with the raw burning. He took a quick peek in the mirror to check how bad of a condition his face was in and was greeted with a nasty surprise. His entire face was splotchy red, worse than it had ever been before.

            Whether it was the pain from his raw cheeks, or the pain settling into his chest from the events prior to his arrival home, he had begun to cry. Slumping to the ground, back against the cupboards under the sink, he sobbed silently. His chest heaved and tears poured from his eyes, burning as they rolled down his face. Hopelessness had made itself present, though it wasn’t exactly welcome, in him. His body felt heavy and he had a headache from crying so long.

            The buzz of the alcohol had worn off, only to be replaced with a hollow, pressing emptiness. Trudging to his room, Bill flicked the light switch to reveal a devastating scene. His drawers had been taken out of his dressers and upended onto his floor. Everything that had been on top of his dressers was now scattered about. The blankets on his bed had been untucked and the pillows were in various places throughout his room. He didn’t have to wonder who had done this to him; there was only one person he knew that would.

            Reality came crashing down upon him, causing him to drop to his knees. The one person who he thought that he would be able to trust had left without a fight. He wasn’t strong enough to get out of this situation himself; Luke had proven it to him many times over. Dipper had been a possible lifeline for him, a possible friend and way out, and he had left Bill. Bill had never felt as hopeless ad he did now.

            Getting up, Bill went and collected his pillows from around the room before lying down in bed and pulling his mess of blankets onto him. He lay there for a long time before falling into a restless sleep.

            The next morning, Bill was woken up by a loud, insistent knocking on his apartment door. His head pounding, Bill struggled out of the blankets that had tangled around him and went to answer the door, still in his night clothes.

            “Hello?” he said, leaning against the door frame, his eyes squinted. Looking up at the figure standing there, his eyes widened. The person standing there wasn’t who he expected. He expected to see bright red hair and green eyes staring down at him, but instead he was greeted by a concerned, blue-eyes version of his own face. Before he knew what was happening, Will was pushing past him into his apartment. “Will, what-?”

            “What happened? My twin senses kicked in and I took a last minute flight for a little while here.” He said, straight faced. “You can’t hide that something crushing happened from me.”

            Closing the door, Bill sighed and rubbed his temples. He really should have expected something like this to happen. Whether a Skype call or a visit, Will always showed up when Bill was feeling like this. He always claimed it as Twin Senses or Twinlepathy.

            “Well? I need answers, Bill.”

            “You want to know that badly? I ruined a possibly very promising friendship because I felt the need to do a stupid loyalty test after knowing him for maybe twenty-four hours, if that.” Bill felt himself choking up as he said it, tears stinging the backs of his eyes. He clenched his fists, nails digging into the palms of his hands enough to draw a bit of blood. Will noticed and pulled his twin into a tight hug. The moment his brother’s arms were around him, Bill broke down. His knees gave out and he heaved into Will’s chest, clutching his last remaining lifeline tightly. “Shush… it’ll be alright. It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’m here.” Will whispered, holding his twin tightly as he sobbed.

            They were like that for a while; the two holding each other, reminding each other that they still had one another; a fact that Bill had forgotten the previous evening. When Bill cried himself out, he got up and walked to the kitchen, opening cupboards and taking things out. He put everything onto the counters before stopping and putting everything back, rethinking it.

            “Hey, what are you doing?” Will asked him, observing the strange behavior.

            Bill shrugged, “I don’t have the energy to cook right now.”

            “Well, let me cook then.”

            “But you don’t-”

            Will pointed at Bill’s face, getting almost uncomfortably close. “Don’t pull that crap with me. I lived with you for eighteen years of my life; I know full well how your kitchen works.”

            After a bit more arguing, Bill conceded. Really, he just didn’t have the energy to fight anymore. He trudged over to the couch; letting Will have full access to the kitchen and everything in it.

            With the only noise in the apartment coming from the kitchen, Bill started to feel the emptiness return. He glanced over at his sound system, tempted to go and put on one of his newer CD’s. That idea was knocked from his head when a plate was set on the coffee table in front of him.

            “Bacon and eggs?” Bill questioned, poking at it with his fork.

            Will sat down next to him and huffed. “I’m not a five star chef like _some_ people, so _excuse_ me if it’s not up to par with your standards.”

            Bill shook his head. “It’s not that I’m disappointed or anything, it’s just… thanks. It’s been a while since I’ve had anyone put their own time into taking care of me.”

            A small, sad smile showed itself in Will’s face. “You know my door’s always open for you, right? You don’t even have to call ahead, just come on out.”

            “I can’t just fly across the country each time I’m feeling down, Will.” Bill said, crunching on a piece of bacon. “I have a job that I can’t just cancel on.” He looked down, an air of melancholy and sadness about him. “My job is one of the only escapes that I have…”

            Will put his hand on Bill’s back, looking sad. “There’s such a thing as Skype, you know.”

            Bill nodded, still looking down. He didn’t speak for the rest of breakfast.

            After that, the two brothers worked together to tidy up Bill’s apartment. Will just about ran out and beat someone when Bill told him who had most likely destroyed his room. It took a while for them to get it all done, taking a break for dinner later in the afternoon, but eventually they did it.

            When the day was done, Will left for his hotel, a promise to return the next day after lunch. Bill stood in his empty apartment, the feeling of loneliness resettling in him. He had gotten things done today, but only because of Will. Most of his success was thanks to his brother. The only thing he was naturally good at was dancing; even his cooking skills were developed by his mother.

            That night passed almost the same as the previous one; save for the scrubbing his face raw and falling asleep quickly.

            For hours, Bill lay there in bed, his eyes burning in their sockets. He couldn’t seem to be able to close them because _what’s the point_. At some point, exhaustion almost won, but a sharp ringing from his phone brought his weary consciousness back.

            Checking the message on his screen, he felt his stomach drop.

                        Message from: Luke

                                    I’m coming over.

▲▼▲

            The next two weeks passed the same as the first two days: Will came over, they cleaned and cooked together, then Will went to the hotel and Luke would come over. Bill wouldn’t get to sleep until Luke would leave at close to seven in the morning. He got about three to four hours of sleep a night, sometimes less.

            The day that Will went back to Florida, things went downhill even further if that was even possible. Bill changed his set list to consist of more Marina and the Diamonds and only a few other artists. He tried songs that were sending slightly subliminal messages to and about Luke.

            It was about a week and a half after Will left that he caught a glimpse of Dipper. He was bringing his laundry in, and before he got into his apartment, the brunet had left his own.

            Dipper looked like hell, though he doubted he looked much better himself. The taller man looked disgruntled. His usually shiny, smooth hair was dull and sticking up in odd places. There were deep, dark bags under his eyes and his usually well-pressed button-up was wrinkled. His bright eyes had dimmed and looked pained. Looking at him, Bill noted that Dipper looked how he felt.

            After that glimpse, Bill didn’t see the beautiful brunet for another two months. Each time he left his apartment, he hoped that he would see Dipper, but his hopes went unbidden…

            It was a cold autumn day, and Luke had woken him up and rushed him out without letting him grab his coat. He shivered alongside the ginger all morning. They were downtown, checking different stores for something Luke wanted (Bill wasn’t really paying attention) and he was freezing. They had been out all morning in the frigid air, and Bill’s joints and muscles protested with every step he took. He looked over at the Central Park and couldn’t help but think how much Dipper would love the colours of the leaves. Maybe he would get inspiration for his story from them, he though, looking ahead of him. Realizing that Luke was giving him a look, Bill shrunk in on himself.

            Passing by the main path, Bill was surprised to hear Luke’s voice directed at someone else.

            “Can I help you?” Luke sneered. Bill glanced up to see who was getting such a tone, to find the object of his thoughts standing there. Dipper looked a lot better than the last time he had seen him. Not wanting to be caught staring, he didn’t hold his gaze for more than a second. There was a warmth bubbling up in him, or at least it was starting to.

            “Actually, you can’t; but I think you can help him a bit.” Dipper said, a slight nervous edge to his voice. Bill shrunk in on himself a bit more, slightly embarrassed but mostly thankful. “It’s clear that he’s freezing, and you won’t even put an arm around him, or lend him your sweater to help him warm up a bit. Rather a dick move don’t you think?”

            Bill gulped, anticipating Luke’s acidic tone. “Excuse you?” the ginger spat, “You think you can tell me how to treat my partner?”

            He heard Dipper’s hair rustle against his jacket. Ill guessed he shook his head when he heard him speak. “No, I’m simply stating that you’re being a bit of a dick.”

            Unable to keep his eyes of the man who was defending him any longer, Bill looked up and made eye contact, feeling a welcoming jolt in his heart. An inside force warmed him up with the belief that Dipper could help him. He spared a glance at Luke to find him rolling his eyes.

            “Does it seem like I care what you think? You’re just a nosy prick and you should learn how to mind your own business from time to time.” Luke said, tilting his head to look down at Dipper.

            Without missing a beat, Dipper gave a response that filled Bill with a sense of courage and hope: “Well when the person that was so warm when he and I met looks like he’s been through hell and back in your presence, then I think that’s something I can get a bit involved in.” Dipper even stood straighter when he said it.

            Their eyes met for the briefest of moments and an understanding washed over the two of them. Bill realized that Dipper had been devastated when he told him to not keep up contact, but he was too polite to deny what Bill seemed to have wanted. He hadn’t wanted to push himself on Bill and make him uncomfortable. Dipper was too nice for his own good.

Luke’s voice snapped him from his thoughts.

            “You have no say in this, you asshole. No, just leave us alone and get back to whatever the fuck it was you were doing before’ Luke scoffed and turned back to the front, aligned with the main sidewalk. “Come on, Bill. We have shopping to do still.”

            He caught Dipper’s gaze as the brunet nodded, the message of _‘I’m here to back you up so go ahead’_ coming through loud and clear. Taking a deep breath, he gulped and shut his eyes tightly, knowing that if he saw Luke’s face, he’d break. “No…” he said, voice soft.

            He heard Dipper gulp and knew the look he was getting. “Excuse me? Did you not hear me? Let’s go, we still have things to do.” Luke growled.

            He took another deep breath to help calm his racing heart. Thinking of Dipper and knowing that he would protect him, he spoke again, keeping his voice steady. “No, you have things to do. I’m not going with you. Pine Tree here is right; I’m freezing and I want to go home.” He opened his eyes, setting his face in an expression of defiance.

            Luke glared at each of them in turn. “We. Are. Going. Now.” He hissed, eyes boring into Bill’s with a terrifying intensity.

            Getting sick of it, Bill felt like it was time to get to the point and leave no room for discussion on it. “No. _We_ aren’t. _You_ are. I’m sick of being dragged along with you whenever you need something to show you’re supposedly stronger. I’m done with being your punching bag; both mentally and physically. You’re a coward who used other people for his own benefit. Newsflash: people aren’t property. Now, kindly go fuck yourself with a cactus.” He shot his snarkiest smile at Luke, who promptly turned the same shade as his hair.

            Luke then stormed up to Dipper and Bill got ready to defend the brunet if needed. Luckily though, he only hissed something that Bill was too far away to hear. With an unheard response, Luke stormed off, spewing curses under his breath as he retreated. He looked up at Dipper who was waving sarcastically and couldn’t help but feel ever so happy that he was back in his life.

            Dipper met his gaze with one of equal warmth. “Welcome back,” they said in unison. Bill didn’t question why he had said that until later, but for the moment, it seemed right to say.

            Blushing and awkwardly rubbing his neck, Bill said: “Want to go back to the apartments and warm up? I’ve got a new recipe for hot chocolate that I’ve been meaning to try out, and I think I know a good test subject.” He grinned up at Dipper when he finished.

            The brunet chuckled. “You know how I feel about your cooking. Even if it was just two meals, they were the best meals I’ve ever had.” He paused for a moment, taking off his coat. “Oh, also, take this.”

            The warmth of Dipper’s body still clung to the jacket that was being wrapped around his shoulders, and he couldn’t help but nuzzle into it as they began the walk back to the apartments…

▲▼▲

            Dipper woke with a start when something started thrashing about in his bed. Sitting up, he tried to get a hand on Bill’s shoulder to shake him awake. He called the blond’s name and jerked his shoulder, forcing him into the waking world.

            “Holy crap, Bill. Are you okay?” was the first thing that came out of his mouth. The second was: “Come here, you’re fine. I’ve got you. Everything’s going to be okay. I’m here”

            He held the shaking Bill close, petting his hair and continuing the reassuring cooing. It took about ten minutes to calm Bill down from his night terror. Dipper knew there was only one person who scared Bill to that extent, and that was Luke. He didn’t want to say that he hated anyone, really, but he couldn’t deny that he loathed that man for what he had done to Bill.

            Bill had been opening up to Dipper about just what Luke had done, and each time something new came up, a new ball of hatred joined with the rest. Bill had never done anything to deserve what he got, that Dipper was certain of.

            When Bill finally calmed down, the two went into the living room. Dipper put on a piano track that Bill fond of, and made them both tea. They sat on the couch together, the only noise in the room coming from the speakers’ flowing piano. When Bill finished his tea, he did something that Dipper didn’t expect.

            Bill stood up, held his hand out to Dipper, and said: “Dance with me?”

            “What?” Dipper asked, perplexed. “I, uh, don’t know how to dance…”

            “I’ll teach you then.” Bill chuckled, taking Dipper’s hand once he set the tea down.

            Dipper was pulled to his feet and to the center of the living room. Bill placed one of Dipper’s hands on his shoulder, gripping the other with the hand that wasn’t currently on Dipper’s waist.

            Bill led them in slow circles around the living room, the two of them close together. It was comforting, the music and steady steps. Dipper followed Bill’s lead with a relative ease, tripping up only once or twice. When the song ended, followed by one of an even slower pace, Dipper pulled Bill against his chest, slowly rotating them on the spot. Bill’s arms wrapped around Dipper’s waist while the taller male’s arms wrapped around Bill’s shoulders. Dipper couldn’t help but notice just how well they slotted together. It seemed to him that they easily could have been made from complementary molds. Being like this felt so right, so natural, and Dipper didn’t want it to end. Unfortunately, songs do end and they eventually had to let the other go.

            Standing there in the living room, they met each other’s eyes. This time though, Dipper felt a comforting warmth spread though his body, starting from his heart, not the usual jolt. Bill was the one who broke eye contact first, looking over at the digital clock under the T.V screen.

            “It’s probably too early to be functioning properly, isn’t it?” he asked, looking back to Dipper who had turned to look at the time as well. It was almost three in the morning. The brunet shrugged. “Probably is,” he said.

            “Then I have an excuse for what I’m about to do,” Bill said, taking a step closer to Dipper and pulling his face down using his shirt collar.

            A small noise of shock escaped Dipper as soft lips pressed against his own. Realizing what was happening, he felt his heart soaring as he kissed back. They stayed like that, kissing each other, noses at awkward positions, until they ran out of breath. Dipper was once again holding Bill against him. Looking at the blond, he saw that his lips were plump from the kiss and his eyes were blown wide in amazement. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he looked similar, going by the burning in his cheeks and the tingling in his lips.

            At the same time, the two of them started beaming before bursting into laughter. It was a relieved laugh; one that showed just how scared they had been of rejection up until that moment. They laughed until they were crying and gasping for air. It was an elated atmosphere; each bringing joy to the other just by being there.

            When they finally calmed down enough to form proper words, Dipper nodded in the direction of his room. “Are you ready to go back to bed?” He asked, still grinning.

            Bill nodded in response, a smile on his face and a light in his eyes. “I don’t think I’ll be waking up in a fit for a while.” He said as they walked back to bed.

            Dipper knew that it was true, because he could feel the pure bliss just radiating off of Bill at the moment. He knew they could make it through together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That chapter was a bit shorter, but only because I was in a rut and was feeling how Bill was at the start. I put some real strong emotions into this one, so I hope that makes up a bit for it. Also, I really hope the happy end the chapter was a good counter for the depressing beginning.
> 
> Here are the songs in Bill's new setlist and who they're by: Picture (Kid Rock ft. Sheryl Crow), Afire Love (Ed Sheeran), Starring Role, Hypocrates, Fear and Loathing (Marina and the Diamonds)
> 
> And this is the piano song I listened to while writing most of this chapter, particularly the end: Rain has Gone (Dennis Kuo)
> 
> ALSO: I absolutely adore seeing comments on things more than anything and getting feedback about what you guys think! I will respond (Even if it's delayed) to most of them. I only wont respond if I don't know how to react to the comment, usually I just get really flustered when I see praising ones.
> 
> EDIT (5/12/15): The update schedule is now every second Sunday. The chapters will be uploaded by 18:00 EST (New York City time/Toronto time)


	4. Dreaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the update days to Sundays. The notes are going to get a lot shorter unless I have some big news for the story to tell you guys. Thank you all who are reading this, I had over 800 views before I fucked up and it made me feel so proud, I can only hope it can get back up there. This chapter litterally killed me so I hope you like it.

The next morning, Dipper woke up before Bill. Wanting to surprise him, he silently crept out of his room and into the kitchen, beginning to prepare breakfast. He took out a bowl of leftover pancake mix from the fridge and his waffle maker. Once he had gotten the waffles started, he took a pan and some bacon and began the frantic cooking.

            It could have been the smell of the food, or it could have been the amount of noise that Dipper was making, but Bill trudged into the kitchen just as Dipper finished making breakfast. The small blond walked up to Dipper as he was serving the food onto the plates and wrapped his arms around his waist, startling the taller male and causing him to almost drop the pan he was holding.

            “Christ, Bill, you scared the living hell out of me!” Dipper exclaimed, putting the pan down on the counter and turning to face Bill, “How are you so quiet when walking around?”

            Bill Just shrugged in response, probably too tired to give a verbal one at the moment. Letting out a light chuckle, Dipper gave Bill a quick squeeze before grabbing the plates and ushering him out to the dining table. Setting the plates down, they sat down opposite of each other. Bill looked at the waffles suspiciously. “Did you use the leftover batter from the pancakes to make these?” he questioned.

            Taking a bite out of his waffle, Dipper smiled embarrassedly, “I wanted to keep it from being wasted. Well, that, and I can’t cook from scratch,” he said.

            This got a chuckle from Bill, “Creative use. I didn’t know you even had a waffle maker. Why didn’t you take it out until now?”

            “Forgot that I had it,” was all Dipper said, as his mouth was full of waffle.

The two finished their breakfast in comfortable silence before Bill went back to his own apartment to get dressed. While waiting for Bill, Dipper got ready for the day and worked on his novel some. He had a decent amount of time before Bill came back; the blond had told him that he was going to take a shower as well.

At one point or another, Dipper’s mind trailed off of his story and to the events of the early morning. He wasn’t sure if it was actually Bill who had made the decision to kiss him, or if it was his half-asleep state that had made that decision. Either way, neither of them had brought it up yet since they got up, and Dipper kind of hoped it stayed that way.

No matter how hard he tried to focus after that, there was no luck. His mind kept drifting to how Bill had acted in the kitchen as well. Bill had been more comfortable with him, more intimate. While his thoughts drifted, he became more and more convinced that it really had been a conscious choice that Bill made. Once at that conclusion, another invasive thought reared its head: Bill and Luke had never officially broken up. Sure, they hadn’t spoken in a couple weeks or so, but that did nothing to ease Dipper’s anxious mind.

The upsetting thought was pushed to the back of his mind as Bill walked in, fresh and clean.

            “Hey there stranger,” Dipper called out, leaning back in his seat to better see the blond, “I was thinking that we maybe could go out again today, just us two this time though.”

            Bill sat down next to him and mocked thinking hard about something. He hummed a bit before answering, “I think we could do that,” he mused with a smile, “but first, let me ask you something.”

            Dipper looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

            “Did you just ask me out on a date?” Bill asked, an almost hopeful look in his eyes.

            The realization that, yes, he did in fact ask Bill out dawned on him, causing him to blush profusely and stumble over his words for a moment before managing to weakly say: “I-I think I did…”

            Bill stared at him emotionlessly for almost a full minute and Dipper began to wonder if that was the right answer or not. Then, suddenly, Bill burst out in laughter so raucous he couldn’t breathe. Now seriously worried that he had said the wrong thing, and slightly embarrassed as well, Dipper looked away from Bill, turning his attention to the computer screen in front of him.

            “Hey,” Bill said, calming down right away when he saw the look on Dipper’s face, “Look, I’m not laughing at you; I’m laughing at how you said that. It was funny and kind of cute if I’m being honest here. You were so certain and confident when you didn’t think much about it, but when I told you that it sounded like you were asking me out, you became all adorably flustered and embarrassed and unsure,” Bill’s hand went to Dipper’s shoulder and made him look up, “and to answer the question I know you’re about to ask, yes, I will accept the offer as a date.”

            “Actually, I was going to ask about early this morning, Dipper blurted out, “You know, when you taught me how to dance?”

            Bill nodded, still smiling a tiny smile, “That wasn’t my sleep deprived and tired state that did those things. I was very much aware of what I was doing.”

            Dipper felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off him. He hadn’t realized how much that had actually been worrying him. Not even thinking, he grabbed Bill in a tight hug, kissing the top of his head and burying his nose in the soft blond hair. Bill shifted and adjusted himself so he was sitting on Dipper’s lap, arms around his chest.

            “You don’t realize just how relieved hearing that made me,” Dipper whispered into Bill’s hair, rubbing the blond boy’s back, “I felt that I had taken advantage of you or something along those lines.”

            This elicited a chuckle from Bill, “Now why would you have thought that? Even if I was tired I sure knew what I was doing.”

            Dipper blushed, choosing not to answer, getting another chuckle from Bill.

            After a few moments, Dipper spoke up again, “So, where should we go this afternoon? I don’t feel like going shopping really. Maybe we could catch a movie then go out for a drink after?” he suggested with a shrug.

            Bill nodded, “It would be better to have the drink at either your or my place though. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to drink because you have to be the DD and I don’t feel like getting hammered off my ass alone tonight.”

            “Your place for the drink then. You’ve got a really good sound system and alcohol, where as I happen to have neither of those things here.”

            “My place after the movie it is,” Bill concluded.

            When they finally got the urge to get up, it was nearing five. Quickly grabbing their coats, the booked it out the door so they could make it in time for the half-past showings. They ended up watching some romantic comedy on Bill’s request. Dipper was quite surprised when Bill got highly emotionally invested in the film. The older man had actually cried a few times during the sappier parts of the movie, leaving the theatre with puffy red eyes and sniffling though a stuffy nose. Dipper wasn’t afraid to put his arm around Bill during the movie and leave it there until he had to start driving back to the apartments.

            Once they had eaten a quick meal Bill had whipped up, the liquor cabinet was opened and the Keurig was booted up so Dipper could make his specialty B52 coffee. When the coffees were done, the brunet rook Calua, Bailey’s and Grand Marnié, poured some in both large glasses and gave it a good mix before giving a glass to Bill, making a toast  and taking a large drink. In the time it had taken for Dipper to prepare the drinks, Bill had put on an upbeat playlist on the sound system.

            With a decent amount of alcohol in their systems, the two became a bit more loose and relaxed with each other, opening up doors to topics better left to the imagination. While discussing one of said topics, their previously shitty love lives, things that would be regretted later on would be said.

            “You wanna know something?” Dipper asked, lying upside down on the couch with a thoughtful look on his face.

            “It depends on what that something is, Pine Tree,” Bill replied, only slightly affected by the booze, “I don’t want to hear things that will hurt me.”

            Dipper shook his head, “I don’t think it’ll hurt you,” he said. Dipper’s alcohol tolerance level was much lower than Bill’s, and the amount of alcohol in the B52 was enough to put even Bill in a slight haze after a few sips. The brunet was, in short, extremely drunk and unpredictable at the moment.

            “Then let’s hear it. I’m curious.”

            Taking a deep breath, Dipper spoke, “Well, I’ve been thinking this for a while, I just haven’t gotten the guts to say it until now,” he was silent for a moment, seemingly for dramatic flair, before continuing, “Bill Cipher, I think I’m in love with you.”

            Bill sat back in a slightly shocked silence. In reality, it wasn’t the so-called huge revelation that stunned him, it was that Dipper had said that he’d felt that way for a while. Had it been as long as Bill felt that way about the brunet? Bill sighed and took another drink. This didn’t mean anything if they were drunk.

            A sad smile on his lips, he replied: “Tell me that when you’re sober.”

▲▼▲

            The next morning was painful, to say the least. Dipper had a massive hangover, causing a late rising. Thanks to the black curtains Bill had hanging on the door to the balcony and the adjoining windows the headache wasn’t as bad as it could have been. He looked around the room for Bill. When he didn’t see the cynical blond, he got up to go check the other rooms only to step on the very person he was looking for. Though confused, he wasn’t awake enough to really question it.

            Since he was up, Dipper decided that he should probably go freshen up, or at least the lingering taste of alcohol out of his mouth. Stepping over Bill this time, he quietly made his way to the bathroom. He quickly went to the washroom and washed his face before sneaking to the kitchen to eat something small before Bill woke up. When he got to the kitchen though, he was rather surprised by the sight before him.

            Bill was sitting on the counter, dishevelled and sleepy-eyes. His usually neatly arranged curls were sticking up and bent everywhere, and he had a pair of fuzzy pyjama pants on. Tired gold eyes were hooded heavily and lithe hands clutched a mug of what smelled like hot chocolate. All in all, it was a good look for Bill, Dipper thought to himself, doing his best to keep a smirk from making an appearance and giving away his thoughts.

            “Morning, sleepyhead,” Dipper cooed teasingly at the blond, opening the fridge and taking out a bottle of juice. Why Bill seemed to always have personal-sized bottles of different types of juice, Dipper doubted he’d ever find out.

            Bill grumbled out a response, unmoving as Dipper hopped up on the counter beside him, “Want an Advil?” the brunet asked, putting his arm around Bill. At the contact, Bill seemed to become fully awake, jumping off the counter and buzzing around the kitchen, words spilling out of his mouth at light speed.

            “Um,” Dipper interrupted Bill’s ramblings, “Did something… happen last night?” he hesitated, unsure of the wording.

            Bill froze in his tracks, slowly turning to look at Dipper with wide eyes, “No, nothing. Why do you ask?” he squeaked out, giving away that, yes, something did happen.

            “What the hell did I do, Bill?” Dipper asked in a monotone.

            The small blond sighed, rubbing his temples, “You didn’t really _do_ anything per-say. You said something that hit a bit of a sore spot. Not your fault though. Usually people would be glad to hear it, and you were drunk out of your mind so you aren’t at fault. You didn’t know,” Bill rambled on, getting slightly erratic gestures the longer he spoke.

            Hopping off of the counter, Dipper walked over and put his hands on Bill’s shoulders, turning the smaller man towards him, “Bill,” he said sternly, “calm down. I want to know what I said and just why it upset you.”

            Looking away, Bill mumbled: “I can’t tell you…”

            “Why not though?” the brunet asked, moving his hands to Bill’s biceps and softly rubbing up and down in an attempt to calm him down a bit more, “I’m not asking you to tell me what I said this time; I’m just wondering why you can’t tell me.”

            “It’s something I can’t say yet… something I wasn’t ready to hear either,” Bill said quietly. Dipper guessed that that was all of the information he would be able to squeeze out of Bill for the time being. He gave the blond a quick hug before hunting down the bottle of painkillers and popping a couple in, washing it down with the juice.

            For the rest of the morning and a decent part of the afternoon, Bill avoided as much physical contact with Dipper as was humanly possible. Much to his own dismay though, he couldn’t escape the brunet’s ridiculously relaxing shoulder and back massages. It was sometime nearing the evening when he fell prey to Dipper’s magic touch. Bill lied down on the couch and let it happen, partially because he wasn’t in the mood to fight, and partially because he thought that this was much needed.

            This time though, Dipper did something that surprised Bill. When he finished massaging his shoulders, instead of moving to his back like usual, he massaged each of Bill’s arms, then to his sides, then his back.

            “Mmm… what’re you doing?” the mostly asleep blond mumbled.

            “It’s a full body massage. Shoulders, arms, back, legs, hands, feet, all of the back of you gets to relax.” Dipper replied quietly, continuing to get all of the knots out of his lower back.

            Bill hummed out a small noise of content, letting himself doze off slightly.

            Dipper smiled down at the dancer. As much as it made him nervous, the thought of being with Bill as more than friends excited him in ways he didn’t quite understand. It was a weird feeling, somewhere between anticipation and anxiety, and he didn’t think that he minded the feeling too much.

            Looking at the time, Dipper swore under his breath and shook Bill fully awake.

            “Huh?” the drowsy blond lifted his head and turned to look at a slightly panicked Dipper, “What-”

            “You really need to get ready for tonight’s show if you want to make the rehearsal,” the tall author said, standing up and pointing to the clock. When Bill’s eyes seemed to register just what he was looking at, they widened. He shot straight up and started racing around the apartment like a madman. Dipper stayed well out of Bill’s way, sitting on the couch and sending a text about their current situation to one of the other senior dancers via Bill’s cellphone. A positive response to hold off a few minutes was received just as they left the door, letting them have enough peace of mind so they could drive safely on the slick late autumn roads.

            The moment the car was parked, Bill ran out, almost fell, and then into the employees only entrance, leaving Dipper to go in through the main one. He said a quick hello to the bouncer, who was named Thomson, as Dipper had found out recently, before walking in and taking a seat at his usual spot at the bar.

            Slowly, the other employees trickled in as it got closer to opening. One of his favourite non-performer employees was a bartender and waitress named Wendy. She had long, fiery red hair, porcelain skin and a smattering of freckles. While most of the workers at the club, dancer or not, wore seductive or revealing clothing, Wendy was usually in lumberjack wear; ragged blue jeans, a green plaid flannel, sleeves always rolled up, and a brown, fuzzy flap hat was her favourite outfit it seemed. She had a sharp personality; always had a comeback or worthy and wise life advice for everything. Dipper believed that the real reason he had found such a good friend in her is because she was just as fun and outgoing as his sister.

            When she saw the look on Dipper’s face, she took a deep breath, ready to ask him some questions, but was stopped when the complacent brunet held his hand up to her.

            “Before you ask, no I haven’t told him yet,” Dipper said simply, “Also, he’s got closing act tonight so I will be having a drink early on.”

            Wendy let out an exasperated sigh, loading on the dramatics, “When will you tell him?” It’s been how many months that you’ve felt this way?” she asked, leaning on the bar counter.

            He rolled his eyes, “I’ve known since the moment I met him, I told you this already,” he said, “There was this… spark that I felt and I just knew. That was about four and a half months ago, three of which we weren’t in contact for.”

            “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that by the way. During those months Cipheress was dancing like a goddess, but Bill was strangely detached from everything, including his alter-ego. He was really torn up about you,” she explained with a concerned look on her face, “I mean like _really_ torn up about you. It was probably super unhealthy if I’m being honest here.”

            “That doesn’t mean any-”

            “It means that he-!”

            I don’t want to hear-!”

            “Well you need to!”

            “Not unless it’s from him.”

            The two continued their quiet bickering until the customers started to come in and Wendy had to go serve. She left Dipper with a glare and a promise that their conversation wasn’t over. The other bartender, Tambry, put her hand on Dipper’s bicep, “I’m not sure you’ll be able to get out of this one, Dipper. I wish you luck,” she said with a quick pat before going to go mix a drink for a customer. With that, Dipper was to wait in silence and boredom until the show started a short bit after.

            The first performance was by Raven, a girl with jet black hair, a sunny personality, and a lilting, high-pitched voice. Dipper was mildly entertained for her quick set, and found the main show decent, but he was waiting on the edge of his seat for when they announced Cipheress’ ending performance. To him, everything paled in compare to the golds and blacks of Cipheress’ shows. Well, everything except the was Bill danced around his apartment, everything except how Bill snag when he didn’t think that Dipper was listening, slightly off-key and so soulful, everything except Bill’s laugh, Bill’s smile, Bill’s attitude. Everything paled in comparison to Cipheress except for the domestic Bill that only he knew.

            When the lights switched from azure to gold, Dipper was immediately entranced. Even though Cipheress only did two songs, he soaked in every second of it in complete awe. No matter how many times he saw Cipheress perform, he still found it breathtaking.

            Cipheress left the stage and the lights went back to normal, crappy dance music filtering through the speakers since there was no more live performances that evening.

            Dipper turned back to face the bar. It was about an hour from closing and people had ordered their last drinks, leaving Wendy to mix and Tambry to serve. For that next hour, Wendy and Dipper bickered on and off while they waited for both Bill and closing time. Wendy was insisting that Dipper tell Bill how he felt while Dipper was adamantly refusing. The stopped abruptly when said dancer walked up to them.

            “Hello to you to then,” Bill said, clean of makeup and in sweatpants, “You didn’t have to stop your conversation just because I got here. Feel free to continue.”

            Dipper coughed a bit to clear his throat, “I-it was more of an argument than a proper conversation…”

            “I still heard my name thrown around here and there,” the blond replied bluntly.

            Wendy and Dipper exchanged scared glances. They both knew that if they said the wrong thing, there would be no escaping the shitstorm that ensued.

            “Dipper here was asking me what kind of shows you watch, and then we got into an argument over whether Criminal Minds or Sherlock was better when I told him you tend to watch crime shows,” Wendy lied through her teeth.

            “Hannibal beats them both,” Bill said matter of factly, “And you can’t even deny it.”

            “No way,” Dipper mused, “Criminal minds easily takes them both out thanks to Reid.”

            “Sherlock and Watson, Dipper,” Wendy reasoned, “You can’t get a better team.”

            From there on, it really was an argument on which crime show was the best. It turned out all three of them were very deeply invested in these shows and could pull the best arguments out of nowhere. In the end, Dipper got Wendy mad at him by mentioning how Sherlock didn’t even have ten episodes, Bill got the others upset by mentioning how Hannigram is an officialised couple and their favourite pairs were still unofficial, and Wendy was losing terribly in every aspect except for how smart the characters were. They were all laughing as they walked to the parking lot together. Wendy said a quick goodbye to then before heading off towards her truck, leaving the boys at Dipper’s crappy old station wagon.

            Once they were alone, Bill spoke up, “You know, you really need a better car,” he said, getting in the passenger seat.

            “When I get the money for one, I’ll get one,” Dipper replied, “Until then though, my station wagon does the job.”

            The ride home was silent, both of them more tired than they would have liked to admit. When they got home, Bill went straight to Dipper’s bed and fell asleep. Changing and washing up a bit beforehand, the brunet went to bed not long after.

▲▼▲

            The next few weeks passed routinely. Bill’s performances, complaints about Dipper’s car, Wendy joining them to binge watch crime shows, and Dipper staying up to ungodly hours of the night writing his novel.

            One day in early December, Bill knocked on Dipper’s door with a pleasant surprise.

            “First snowfall, Pine Tree,” is all the excited blond said, tossing a handful of snow at a half-asleep Dipper before running away down the hall.

            Dipper blinked a few times in confusion. What just happened didn’t seem to be sinking in in his current tired state. Finally, the cold of the melting snow on his toes woke him up to his current situation and he took off after Bill, quickly closing his door.

            He got outside to see Bill with an arsenal of snowballs at his side. It was at this moment that Dipper realized that he was only in a tee-shirt and boxers and was royally screwed. Bill started tossing snowballs at a cowering Dipper, each one hitting their intended target. When Bill ran out of snowballs, he ran over and tackled the brunet into the snowy grass, both laughing to the point of tears.

            It was things like this, Dipper thought, that made him fall even deeper in love with Bill. Things like how he got excited for the smallest and seemingly unimportant, everyday events. Like how his laugh was a sound that was brighter than the sun, or how he seemed to fit perfectly in Dipper’s arms. The small things were what caused him to fall ever deeper in love with the small blond boy in his arms.

            He nuzzled Bill hair, relishing the softness against his face. The smell of his own shampoo greeted his nose. Bill smelled like him, and frankly, it blew Dipper’s mind.

            Helping each other, they got up, standing closer than two friends usually would. A strange look appeared in Bill’s eyes. Before Dipper could say anything, Bill spoke up.

            “Dipper Pines, I’m in love with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't edit this yet. Let me know if you see any mistakes and I'll go through and fix it. Also, I love love love seeing comments on my work, even if it's something small. Comments light up my day and I appreciate every single one. Finally, I'm not making the playlist. If any of you want to, just do so and give me a link. I'll put it in the notes and give your credit for it. Ciao mi bellas. (Sorry if my grammer makes your cringe I'm shit in Italian).


	5. Have Some Holiday Spirit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what? I'm going to be fixing all mistakes in previous chapters over the holidays so point them out please.
> 
> Even better news: WE'VE BROKEN 50 PAGES AND 20K WORDS

Bill’s eyes widened as he realized what he had said. He couldn’t take it back though, because the next thing he knew, Dipper’s lips were on his and he was kissing back. Was he scared of what was going to happen next? Of course he was! He was fucking terrified, but this time, he was determined to not let that fear get in the way of a relationship. He had already met Dipper’s sister, so there was that out of the way. On the other hand though, Dipper and Will still had not been formally introduced.

            In a sudden snap to reality, Bill realized that Dipper was still in his underwear and barefooted and probably freezing. Breaking the kiss, Bill spoke, “Crap, you’re barely wearing anything, it’s only 30 degrees out and you’re lifting me up? When did this happen?” the blond asked in confusion.

            Dipper let out a chuckle. “Well, I think I lifted you up when you kissed back. I’m completely sure though, so don’t take my word on it,” he said, setting Bill down on the snowy ground.

            In an unspoken agreement, the two began to walk back to the doors of the building. Dipper unlocked the main doors with the sensor key and held it open for Bill. Unsurprisingly, the elevators weren’t working so they had to take the stairs three flights up. Bill, thumping his pockets for his keys, realized that he was locked out of his apartment. With a sigh, he followed Dipper into the warmth of his apartment instead.

            Seeing the blond take his coat off, Dipper smiled a bit. “Locked yourself out again?” he asked with a chuckle, receiving a half-assed glare from the blond. He turned his TV on and switched to the radio channels, finding one with Christmas music and putting that station on.

            Bill had an eyebrow raised. He seemed to be skeptical about Dipper’s choice of music. “What?” the brunet asked, “There’s, like, a week left till Christmas. I’m being festive. It’s kind of a thing Mabel drove into my head since we were kids.”

            “I wasn’t judging. I was just confused. For some odd reason I didn’t think you were a religious person is all,” Bill said, beginning to raid Dipper’s kitchen for something.

            Dipper shrugged and leaned on the breakfast bar, “I’m not. My parents were, are still actually, and they got us celebrating it as kids. The traditions stuck with us even when they separated and we moved in with my Grunkle Stan and Grandpa Ford. My mom always joined us for the holidays there. Then Grandpa Ford went off and decided to move into an old age home because ‘he couldn’t take care of the house anymore’ and Grunkle Stan… well, we still celebrated it every year at his place, up until this year I guess,” a look of nostalgia passed over Dipper’s face, “Now the place has been sold, and we’re all living on our own. My mom’s overseas this winter for business and Mabel’s in California for college. You know something though?” Dipper looked up at Bill, genuinely asking him this.

            “No, but I have a feeling that you’re going to tell me,” Bill replied, leaning on the other side of the breakfast bar, a smile on his face.

            “I’m fine with that. I’m fine with my family being split up this year. We each have a new opportunity to make new traditions and meet new people to have fun with. And maybe next year when we all get together, or even the year after that, or whenever our next holiday together is, we can share those new traditions with each other and our new friends, and maybe even our new family,” Dipper was beaming, a light in his eyes that Bill had never seen before shining through, “I’m fine with us being apart because we have more chances to do more things. We can make our own traditions, and share our old ones with new people. We can become closer to others, which is something I never got to do as an introverted and overprotected child. We can crack Christmas crackers with new people and tell old corny jokes to those who haven’t heard them yet, and honestly, I’m actually excited for it.”

            The way that Dipper put it, Bill couldn’t help but think about Will. The two hadn’t gotten together for holidays in years, save for maybe their birthday. Bill had spent his Christmases with the other dancers from the club most years, and this year, he didn’t have to. The realization that he would have someone closer than a co-worker to spend the holidays with dawned on him and he felt himself tearing up at the very prospect. When he realized Dipper was talking again, he asked what he had said and that he had blanked out for a moment, earning himself a laugh.

            “I was suggesting you invite Will over for dinner on Christmas day. I would invite Mabel, but she’s already told me she’s going to be having Paz over so she can’t come. Plus, it would give me a chance to meet your twin,” Dipper replied cheerily. It seemed that almost nothing bothered Dipper, if it was Bill doing it.

            “Well, I can’t invite him over if there’s no decoration. He takes the holiday quite seriously, you see. Even his office is decorated, he’s that festive,” Bill explained, poking Dipper’s upper arm playfully, “If it’s bare of a tree and festive lights, then it’s bare of his presence during the holidays.”

            Dipper let out a hearty laugh. “Well, that just means we have to go as full out as we can for decorations between our apartments.”

            “Oh, no. No, my apartment already has decorations ready to put up. You on the other hand, need to make a good impression,” Bill got up and walked around to Dipper’s side of the breakfast bar and sat on one of the stools he had gotten for it, “and that means that you need to go get dressed and we need to go buy some décor for your place. Starting with a tree.”

            “Alright, alright, I get what you’re telling me. We’re going decoration shopping and I’m still not dressed. I will go do that, and you will be shocked at just how festive I actually am,” Dipper replied, turning the TV off and walking to his room, chuckling still.

            Bill looked around the apartment that was so similar yet so very different from his own. They had the same coloured walls, same tiled floors, but they felt so different. Bill’s apartment was very minimal. He went for the least amount of things. Though it was usually people who were never home who did things like that, Bill was almost always home. He just hated clutter. Sadly, the affect his style had on the mood of his apartment made it feel like it really wasn’t lived in at all. His home didn’t really have a homey feel to it. Dipper’s apartment on the other hand, was oh so welcoming. Yes, it was messy and cluttered, but it had a warm, lived in and loved feeling to it; and Bill had become very at home here, much more so than in his own home even. He had a drawer in Dipper’s bedroom, and a rack in the coat closet, and even a spare key. It felt strange to admit, but he felt like Dipper was already becoming family to him.

            Bill was torn from his thoughts as a very, very, appallingly-dressed Dipper walked into the room. The brunet was wearing what was probably the ugliest ugly Christmas sweater Bill had ever seen. It was a royal blue with a green pine tree pattern, but oh, the clashing colours weren’t enough. To add to the ugliness quality, it was covered, almost ridiculously so, in miniature, working, rainbow, LED lights. Worst of all, bright red and white striped pants accompanied the abomination.

            “I’m sorry but what the fuck are you wearing?” Bill asked in a monotone.

            “Festivity my dear friend, festivity,” is the only response given to the horrified blond before he was promptly handed his coat, slipped into his shoes and herded out the door.

            The trip to the mall was a short one, but Bill decided that it could have been much shorter, thanks to Dipper singing along to every single song that came on the radio, purposefully terribly and very loudly. At their destination, things slowed down to a crawl. People shoved and jostled the two around, cutting in line and practically snagging things out of their hands. When they finally grabbed all the decorations and fairy lights, Bill made a bee-line for the car, about five bags in hand. Everything was put into the trunk, and then they went off to get a last-minute tree.

            They ended up getting a decent-sized tree. It was at least Bill’s height, though that wasn’t very tall. Bill brought all the decorations into Dipper’s apartment, while the brunet handled his tree.

            “Okay, let’s set this up!” Dipper said cheerfully, though he quickly became concerned when he saw Bill’s exhausted and pale face, “Are you okay?”

            Bill just sort of shrugged, not energetic enough to really speak. The mall had really drained him. There was so much stress and he just felt like crap. Without a word, Dipper pulled the blond over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug, stroking his hair to help calm him down. He was still tense, but the contact got him to release most of the tension into nothing, leaving room for the relaxing warmth of Dipper’s body. They stood like that for a few minutes, just until Bill pulled away and started yelling at Dipper to start putting the tree up in a jokingly serious manner.

            Once the tree was set up, the two began to decorate it, stringing up fairy lights and putting baubles on the branches. Gold, blue and silver garland draped from branch to branch, setting the light from the fairy lights onto the walls in beautiful patterns. They put up more lights around the balcony door and windows, around the stove and cupboards in the kitchen, and around the window in Dipper’s room. A few festive signs graced the hallway, messages of Santa Claus and his reindeer portrayed with fun cartoons made from wood and painted bright colours. There was a bright green wreath on the back of the door.

            With the decorating done, they sat at the breakfast bar, homemade candy cane hot chocolate in hand and told each other stories of previous holidays. The music wafted quietly from the TV speakers along with the artificial crackling of a fire. The mood was relaxed, the lights all out except for the fairy lights, making the room dim and coloured slightly. Eventually, they fell silent, stories told and hot chocolate drank.

            They sat like that for a while, the only noise coming from the TV. It was comfortable. No words were said, and no attempts and disturbing anything were made, because in those moments, everything was perfect. There were no problems in the world to them in those moments, because they were the only two that existed and they found no problems in each other.

            Eventually, Bill got up and held his hand out to Dipper, just like on that night they first kissed. Dipper accepted the hand and stood, letting himself be guided to the middle of the living room. Bill led the two in a swirling and mid-tempo dance. They were so light in their hearts, that they felt just as light on their feet. As the song changed, so did their dance. Just like before, it became slower and more intimate as the song became so. Bill rested his cheek on Dipper’s collar, and Dipper rested his chin on Bill’s head as they held each other close, turning slowly on the spot. At one point they stopped turning, and just stood there, holding each other.

            Pulling apart, they looked into each other’s eyes. A familiar rush spread through them, but this time, there was something a bit different. Yes, the jolt was there, but now there was a beautiful warmth that seemed not to only be there on the inside, but spread to the outside as well, filling the space between and around them with something that could only be described as magical.

            Without a word, the two leaned into each other, lightly brushing their lips together before pulling apart again, just relishing in the feeling of the other being there.

            “A Christmas miracle…” Dipper muttered, his gaze soft and voice low.

            “Yeah, it certainly is a Christmas miracle,” Bill chuckled lightly, his voice breathy.

            They brushed their lips together again before letting go of each other, though still letting their hands touch, and heading off to bed.

            It was the first night in a long time they both had a full and restful sleep.

▲▼▲

            The next day, Bill contacted Will and invited him over for dinner on Christmas day. Will happily obliged to meet them, though he told them that he would need to be picked up at the airport.

            After that, time flew by quickly. They met up with friends for coffee, went shopping for gifts together, though Bill got a ride from Wendy when he went to get Dipper’s gift and Dipper went alone to go get Bill’s gift, and decorated Bill’s apartment to the same extent as Dipper’s. All in all, Christmas came quickly and Will’s arrival was upon them in what seemed to be no time at all.

            They were waiting in the pickup line at the airport in the snow when Will walked up to the car and got into the back seat, putting his duffel bag on the seat next to him. He looked quite different from the last time Bill had seen him.

            “You dyed your hair!” Bill exclaimed, turning around in his seat to look at his twin, “You also cut it! Why didn’t you tell me, you ass?!” he lightly punched his brother in the arm.

            Will was laughing, “I wanted to surprise you!” he said, grinning widely, “I also cut it, see?” He ruffled his hair to show off both the bright blue dye and a nicely done undercut.

            Dipper couldn’t help but laugh a bit at how much the two reminded him of Mabel and himself. They were very much energetic when put together, but from what he’s witnessed, they were rather calm when separate.

            “Will, this is Dipper. I don’t believe the two of you have formally met yet, or met at all in fact,” Bill said, turning back around in his seat, “Acquaint yourselves, I will be listening to Fall Out Boy on my phone,” he put his earbuds in and started tapping out a beat before Dipper took his earbuds out and tossed them back to Will. “You aren’t getting out of this. Just put an Ed Sheeran CD on the car sound system.” The brunet said pointedly, beginning to drive.

            “You seem to keep him good in line,” Will said with a chuckle, tucking the yellow earbuds into his pocket, “Even I have a hard time doing that.”

            “It’s cause you don’t really want to. He _is_ your twin after all, he can tell that you don’t really mean what you’re saying,” Dipper said, glancing at the blue-haired Cipher in the rear-view mirror, “Trust me, I’d know. My sister never listened to me when I tried to convince her to not do something fun but potentially detrimental to her health, or, actually it was more I unwillingly was dragged along while complaining and pointing out those facts to her…” Dipper set his face into one of slight though before shrugging, “Anyways- I had a point to what I was saying…”

            This time all of them started to laugh. It was a much lighter atmosphere than what they thought it would be. Will and Dipper seemed to get along, both being the younger and more logical twin who’s advice was usually ignored because of the former. Stories of their childhoods were thrown around the car, and Dipper took great enjoyment out of the ones where Bill became red and flustered, purposefully sharing some of his own embarrassing stories to make him feel a bit better. They talked and talked until they got back to their apartments.

            The moment that Will saw Dipper’s apartment, his jaw dropped. It was so, so obvious that Bill had helped out; everything screamed his style. Another thing that was obvious, was just what the mood must have been the night they decorated. Will was a very observant person, and he couldn’t miss the way the two styles mixed in a way one could almost call intimate somehow, one style so familiar and one still strange to him. When Will looked over at the two of them, bustling around the kitchen separately but still working together to accomplish two different goals, he knew right away that Bill had big plans for the evening of Christmas dinner. He also knew that Bill wanted to run his idea by Will before actually acting on it, and that’s why he asked Will to come by a couple days before Christmas.

            The two walked out of the kitchen with hot chocolate and, amazingly, fresh cookies. They must have put it in before they left so it would be ready when they got back. Taking a seat on the couch, Will saw how they were constantly touching somehow. Whether it was their legs brushing, or their hands touching the other somewhere on their body, or just plain holding hands, the two were _always_ in contact with each other somehow, and it frankly stunned the hell out of Will. The last time he has seen his twin, he had been having a breakdown about this boy he had fallen in love at first sight with, and sobbing about and abusive boyfriend. It was such a drastic change over a few months, but if this was the affect Dipper had on Bill, turning him from someone who had absolutely no hope to someone who was just plain radiating with joy and love, then he was fully content with him.

            They all made small talk, ate cookies, and drank Bill’s new hot chocolate recipe until they began to tire. Will was quite surprised when Bill handed him a spare key to his apartment and to make himself at home there if he wasn’t comfortable sleeping on the couch here. Letting them both know that he was perfectly fine with sleeping on the couch, he smiled as he watched his twin and Dipper walk off to the bedroom, both yawning and leaning on each other. He lied down on the couch after going to the bathroom to change into pyjamas and promptly fell asleep.

            The next morning, Will woke up to the smell of mint, pancake batter and the sound of Ed Sheeran playing quietly. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and looked to the kitchen to see the two that lived there (though technically Bill didn’t live there) working together and dancing while making breakfast, completely oblivious to the blue-haired twin watching the adorable show. Each time he looked at the two of them, he realized just how much they loved and cared about each other, and just how good the brunet was for Bill.

            He cleared his throat and the two looked over at him, not really affected, just aware of his presence now. They continued what Will assumed was their morning routine, Will getting himself ready for the day, not wanting to interrupt them. When he came back to the living room, effectively at the worst possible time, _of course_ , he raised his eyebrows a bit and slipped back to the bathroom. He hadn’t walking in on anything scandalous, no, but he had walked in on a private moment.

            Dipper and Bill had been holding each other close, Bill’s face in Dipper’s chest and Dipper’s face in Bill’s hair, how they usually danced. This time however, they had just been holding each other, the quiet music just making them sway. No, Will didn’t want to intrude on them, no matter how casual it had probably felt to them because the air in that room was just so _personal_. They had a very intimate mood to them, even if they couldn’t feel it, and Will was just so amazed that his twin had actually opened up to someone other than him. He wasn’t jealous about it, if anything he was ecstatic about it. He was so happy that his brother had found someone that he could trust. From what he had seen in the last twelve hours, and from what he heard about their meeting, Bill had actually found his soulmate, something so rare that it was seen as a childish dream to meet someone like that. It was seen as just a fantasy to have love at first sight, but Bill had gotten it and Will was just so happy that Bill had found the piece missing from him that Will seemed to be unable to fill. Will, being aromantic himself, knew that he wouldn’t experience the sensation of knowing love at first sight, but he was fine with that. He didn’t _want_ a romantic relationship, he just wanted his brother to be happy.

            After a few more minutes, Will went out to the living room again to find the two of them just standing there in the kitchen, staring at each other from opposite sides of the room. Deciding that this wasn’t too bad a time to interrupt, he walked into the kitchen and snagged the spoon in the batter bowl, snapping them out of their moment.

            Bill then spent the next five minutes chasing after his twin, yelling at him for messing with his kitchen while Dipper casually ate batter from the bowl, earning a scolding when Bill was done with Will, wildly waving the batter spoon at the brunet.

            Once breakfast was made, only a few injuries given in the process, they all settled on the couch, even though the breakfast bar was right in front of them, along with the dining table. They quickly ate before Bill ran over to his apartment and brought a few gifts over, placing them under the tree with Dipper’s and Will’s.

            The rest of the day was pretty basic, except for the fact that, at one point, Bill decided that he should practice his new routine, efficiently shutting down Dipper’s thought process for the next few hours and impressing Will immensely.

            All of them were ecstatic that evening, Bill rapidly but lightly punching Will’s shoulder repeatedly, letting out a high pitched noise of excitement as he did so. Apparently it was a tradition for the Cipher twins to stay up until midnight, open one gift each and then go to bed, saving the rest for the morning. Dipper made them each a cup of milk tea, then, as he was bringing it in, the clock struck midnight and the two Ciphers went ballistic, diving for their presents and passing them to the other, tearing the paper open with an animalistic drive. The brunet was frozen in a mixture of surprise and slight fear when they turned their gaze to him after hugging each other in thanks. Unsure of what to do exactly, he placed the three cups onto the table, not breaking eye contact once, no matter how intimidating this was.

            “Well?” they asked in unison, higher and lower voices mixing together in a disturbing, slightly demonic way.

            “Well, what?” Dipper asked, now officially confused.

            Bill rolled his eyes, “Aren’t you going to join in? Didn’t you say it was a great year to share traditions and make new ones?”

            Dipper began to slightly regret his ‘learn new things’ euphemism earlier that week, as it was now being used against him the its highest extent as he sat on the couch after grabbing two gifts and passing them to the twins, who each passed him one in return. He opened Will’s first. To his surprise, it was a leather bound journal. The leather was supple, but not flimsily so, and the pages seemed to be made out of something like cardstock. He thanked Will, who was fawning over his own gift of homemade potpourri (which, once again, Bill helped with) and turned to Bill’s gift. He glanced over at the blond, who seemed to be waiting for Dipper to open his before even so much as lifting a corner of the paper on his own. Dipper looked down at the gift in his hands and summed it up mentally.

            It was a very small package, much smaller than the journal, and it was almost perfectly cubic. It didn’t weigh much and when he shook it, there was no sound of anything moving. He carefully tore the paper off for the thought of the item being fragile, and what he saw when it was open made his eyes go wide and jaw gape a tiny bit.

            Dark blue velvet covered the entire surface of the miniature box. It had what seemed to be cut diamonds, though it could have easily been zirconia, set into the lid in the shape of a pine tree. It still fit in the palm of his hand, and upon seeing it, the thought of what was most likely inside dawned on Dipper.

            He was holding a specially made ring box, and inside it was most likely an engagement or a promise ring, either of which would make Dipper’s world.

            Carefully and slowly, he opened the lid which snapped back with a satisfying _pop_. A beautiful ring sat inside. It was a simple silver band with small, aquamarines incrusted into it. It’s centrepiece, though, was a stunning blue gem, though it couldn’t be classified as simply blue. It was deep blue, though there were flecks of lighter blue and black in it, and the most amazing thing about it was that it was cut into the shape of a tiny pine tree.

            “Bill, I…” Dipper looked from the ring to the man sitting beside him with complete and total awe. He glanced back down at the ring and felt himself start to tear up.

            “It’s a promise ring…” Bill said quietly, “And the gem in the center is a black opal. Extremely rare, extremely pricey, but I saw it and it instantly reminded me of you… your eyes to be specific.”

            “It’s beautiful… thank you,” Dipper said, getting Bill to slide the ring onto his finger, “Now, open your gift… I think we had something similar in mind…”

            Bill’s package was about the same size as Dipper’s, only, when he opened it, there was black velvet with tiny yellow gems creating a triangle on the top. Bill wasted no time in looking at the ring. He opened the box and let out an audible gasp when he lay his eyes on the beautiful band.

            The ring itself was made of white gold, and there were small gems all over it. In the very center though, three wondrous stones were set delicately in place. The one in the middle of the gems was pitch black and cut into a triangle, while the two off to either side of it were a bright yellow and shimmering. A closer look showed that all of the miniature gems were like the large center one, black as a moonless night.

            “The yellow ones are Citrine and the black ones…” Dipper trailed off, sliding the ring onto Bill’s finger, “Black diamonds. All of them.”

            Bill’s eyes widened. He knew that black diamonds were one of the rarest type of diamonds, and because of their rarity, just how expensive they were. He practically dove onto Dipper, pressing his lips to the brunet’s with such an intense love. He then began to pepper the taller male’s skin with light little kisses, not leaving an inch unkissed.

            “As sweet and absolutely endearing this is, I believe it is time for us all to go to bed,” Will said, interrupting the two.

            Bill’s only response to that was kissing Dipper again and flipping his twin off, earning a laugh from the blue-haired man.

            Dipper broke the kiss, even though it was obviously highly reluctant. “Come on, you sap, it is getting really late and I’m exhausted,” he said, looking over at the coffee table, “And none of us even touched the milk tea…”

            “Drink it tomorrow iced,” is all Bill replied, nuzzling into the crook of Dipper’s neck, pressing another kiss there as well.

            The brunet just rolled his eyes, picked the small blond up, and walked to their room, calling out a goodnight to Will on his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this all yesterday RIP me this is 11 pages long i hope this makes up for my earlier short shit


	6. I Trusted You

            The next morning, Will crept into Dipper and Bill’s room to surprise them awake, but what he saw made him, once again, realize that he should stop walking in on these two when they’re alone together.

            Bill was curled up against Dipper’s chest, both still fast asleep and neither wearing shirts. Dipper’s arms were around Bill and his nose buried in the golden blond locks. Their legs were tangled up together in the blankets, and they were pressed flush against each other. Will let out a small sigh at the sight, almost reluctant to wake them up.

            Almost is the key word there.              

            With a triumphant and excited yell, Will pounced on the two of them, waking them both up. Bill was screaming out a string of curses, and Dipper actually seemed about ready to cry, he was that scared. Will propped himself up on the side of the bed that was not occupied and grinned at the two of them, who were staring at him with wide eyes.

            “What the hell was that for?!” Bill shouted at his twin, an incredulous look on his face.

            “It’s Christmas day! We have to open presents, go out for breakfast and then start making dinner!” Will said, rolling off the bed after being pushed away by his twin and his twin’s boyfriend, fiancé?, he wasn’t sure anymore.

            “We’re getting up, we’re getting up,” Dipper grumbled, rolling over onto his stomach, somewhat dragging Bill with him.

            Apparently content with his work, Will hopped up and skipped out the door, leaving the couple to the morning routine.

            “I call dibs on the bathroom,” Bill said, shooting up and racing around the bedroom, grabbing his things, bolting out the door before Dipper could protest. The brunet let out a sigh, getting up and beginning to change.

            Bill, of course, walked in as he was changing his pants. They stood there looking at each other for a long moment before Bill slowly backed out of the room, closing the door, and red in the face. The blond walked back to the living room, earning a look from his twin.

            “What the hell just happened?” Will asked, leaning against the bar with a cup of re-warmed milk tea in his hand, “You look like you saw a ghost or some shit.”

            “No, just a half-naked Dipper,” was Bill’s response as he made himself a cup of coffee, “Not the usual half though.”

            Will nodded, understanding what Bill meant. “Isn’t he your boyfriend, fiancé, something?” he asked, a bit confused.

            “Boyfriend. Not yet fiancé. They were _promise rings_ not _engagement rings_ ,” Bill explained, attempting to fix his crazily messed up hair, “And still… it doesn’t change anything. We’re not really going fast like that, so back off of it.”

            “Woah, calm down. I wasn’t going to say anything like that,” Will said, holding his hands up in defense, “You know me. I personally don’t care for things like that at all, so I won’t judge you for it.”

            Bill sighed, his shoulders drooping, “Yeah, I know… Sorry about the outburst.”

            “Anyways…” Will said as Dipper walked into the room, “Let’s get to opening the rest of our gifts.”

            Compared to the gifts from the earliest hours of the day, the gifts they got now were quite pale in comparison. Dipper got a new set of pens to go with his journal, Will got a new set of headphones, and Bill received a new pair of slippers and matching housecoat. When they finished unwrapping everything and were left throwing wads of torn up wrapping paper at each other, Bill brought up the topic of dinner that evening.

            “Hey, about this afternoon, evening, whatever it is…” he said, rolling around on his back, “I hope neither of you mind that I invited Tad over for it. He doesn’t have any family in Oregon, or neighbouring states, so I told him that he could stop by for dinner with us.”

            Dipper nodded, thinking about it. “Well it’s Christmas, so the more the merrier, right?” he asked, lightly tossing a ball of tape at Bill, “Plus, the set of crackers that I got has four in it, so at least it won’t go to waste.”

            The tape hit Will and got stuck in his blue curls. “It’s an all-around win then,” he jotted in.

            It was a very laid-back atmosphere in the room. No one was in any sort of rush, knowing they could go and buy a pre-cooked dinner from the store down the road if they got stuck for time. It was too late to go out for breakfast, and none of them were exactly hungry at the moment anyways.

            A knock on the door snapped them out of their lazy stupor. With a sigh, Bill got up to answer the door, seeing as the other two were probably not getting up any time soon. Opening it, a surprise greeted him.

            “Tad?” he questioned, causing Dipper and Will to look over at him with curious expressions on their faces, “You’re here early, plus this is not the apartment I told you to go to.”

            Tad shrugged, “You weren’t in the apartment next door so I decided to check this one. Seems like I made the right choice.”

            Bill moved out of the way, letting Tad into Dipper’s apartment. “Will, Dipper, this is Tad Strange. He works at the same club I do,” Bill explained.

            Tad was a nice looker, to say the least. Jet black hair hung loosely around his face, while the back was kept up with a hair tie. Violet eyes scanned the room from behind metal hipster frames. He was dressed casually; a white dress shirt was covered with a black, grey and purple striped sweater, the top buttons of the shirt undone, letting the collar stick up at odd angles. Black skinny jeans clung to long, thin legs, settling over a pair of socked feet, shoes discarded at the door.

            Tad’s eyes scanned over Dipper and rested on him, a strange glint appearing in his eyes as he did so. The look he was being given made Dipper slightly uncomfortable, almost like he was being looked _into_ and not at. It was unsettling, to say the least.

            “Nice to meet you all,” Tad said, breaking his gaze on Dipper, “As Bill here said: I’m Tad Strange.”

            Dipper politely nodded, but that was all. Something about this Tad gave him the creeps, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly. Deciding that it would be best to keep his guard up around him, Dipper sat up a bit straighter in his seat, trying to physically become slightly more imposing. Sadly, at 5’6”, it was a bit difficult, especially when the person you were trying to intimidate was a good four inches taller than you.

            Will seemed to be picking up on the man’s strange vibes as well, for his eyes became much harder than they were before the door was opened and his entire body had tensed up like a cat ready to pounce.

            Bill, even, wasn’t exactly being the friendliest towards Tad. It seemed that he had only invited the raven-haired man over as a formality, or to return a favor. His eyes were ice cold when he looked at Tad, and his previously loose gait has become slightly tenser, though he still flowed as smoothly as ever.

            Tad, on the other hand, seemed to be completely at ease with them all, as if he was actually enjoying setting them on edge like this. His eyes were cold and cruel, his posture daunting. He had an air of power that was oppressive to all but Bill. The two were staring at each other, seemingly in a silent competition over who would hold the attention of the room. A few minutes passed in tense silence, eyes darting between the two at the doorway, before Bill won whatever stand-off had been happening.

            “Anyways,” Bill said, a look in his eyes that Dipper had never seen before… or had he? Tads’ being in the room was messing with his head, bringing things that he thought were memories, but were much too surreal to actually be, to the surface of his mind. “I was thinking that instead of cooking, we could all go out for dinner. If I was to make something, it would take too long, and I don’t want to buy a pre-cooked meal, like was the original rush plan,” the blond said in a monotone.

            “Sounds good to me,” Will said, getting a mumbled agreement from Dipper who was still far too deep in his mind to fully comprehend what was happening.

            Bill mumbled something to Tad, snarling while he said it. Will knew what was happening, but why did it have to happen today of all days? If Tad could have waited even one day, they would have been more prepared for this. The only protection Dipper currently had was the ring that Bill had given him, and judging by Tad’s power, it wasn’t going to be as much help as they originally hoped it.

            Being the smug creature he was, Tad grinned evilly at the blond man standing before him. Oh, this was going wonderfully; for him at least. The Cipher twins were probably suffering while they watch their precious toy break apart slightly just by his presence. Their little game will be over soon, if he has his way. In fact, their play-toy will be lost forever if he has way. By this time tomorrow, all of the Pines man’s memories should be flooding back in rapid succession and then what will Bill do, knowing that Dipper remembers everything that happened between them in the past. The thought of causing such chaos brought a dark chuckle to Tad’s lips, gaining another death glare from Bill as he went over to check on the Pines man.

            “Pine Tree, are you okay?” he asked, kneeling down and putting a hand on Dipper’s back, only to get shrugged off violently. So it was already starting to break, the wall in his mind. This was bad, very, very bad. Bill stood up and turned to face Tad, pointing to the door. His point was gotten across quite clearly as his eyes began to get a slight blue glow to them, the pupil in his right eye turning into a triangle as he released a portion of his powers. Tad shrugged, his own pupil turning into a bright violet square as he waved goodbye to the group in the chaotic apartment.

            Once Tad was out of the room, Bill turned back to Dipper, effectively shutting all of his power down. He couldn’t risk that again. He couldn’t risk letting Tad near _his_ human. Strange got the Gleeful boy, Will got his own human in Nebraska, and Bill got the Pines twins in Oregon. With Mabel being out of state, that left only one twin that he could protect; which meant that since Tad now knew that Dipper’s wall was breaking, he would have to let Mabel know as well. Running a hand through his hair, Bill let out a heavy sigh.

            “Will, you need to go protect your human. The situation is about to get really bad, and they’re going to need you to be there for them,” Bill said, looking at his twin, “I can take care of this. I’ve done it once before, I can do it again.”

            Will shook his head, “Bill, you know I can’t do that. My human is the Northwest girl, and she’s with Shooting Star. Usually, she’s in her summer home in Nebraska, but since college started, I’ve been having a tough time keeping an eye on her,” he explained, tapping Dipper’s forehead to put him to sleep. There was no need for the brunet to hear this information.

            “I realize that, but you also know that she’s going to want to get involved in this since her girlfriend is in danger. I can’t let you let her do that, so you have to herd her back to her family and keep them under lock and key until Strange is taken care of,” Bill snapped slightly. He couldn’t let Will get involved in this either, it was too risky. If there were more demons around Pine Tree than necessary, it was guaranteed that he would snap completely.

            The two demons had a silent argument, neither breaking eye contact for a good few minutes. Eventually, Will gave in; he had always been the weakest of the pair. “Alright, I’ll go,” he sighed, “but know that if you need any help at all, Bill, I’m always ready to pop in and snap some necks.”

            “I’ll take care to remember that. Now, go watch the Northwest girl,” Bill instructed, picking up his cell phone, “I’m about to inform Shooting Star that she needs to get her ass back here ASAP.”

            Bill looked away to dial the number, and when he glanced back up, Will was gone. His phone rang once, twice. Mabel’s confused voice came though the speaker, “Bill? What’s going on?”

            “Listen, Shooting Star. The walls holding back your brother’s memories of the past are breaking down, quickly at that,” Bill explained, “We have no time to waste. Tad is coming after the two of you, and I can’t protect you if you’re in California, territory borders and all. I know the two of you didn’t actually sell Sixer’s house, so we’re moving back there. Llama is being protected by Will, and they’re going back to Nebraska as soon as we’re done on the phone. The situation is Code Red, and I can’t even slow the threat down without being at the source of my power.”

            “…” the line was silent for a moment as Mabel thought of what Bill had said. After what seemed like an eternity later, she finally responded, “Alright. I’ll be there as soon as I can. If I can catch a ride with Will…”

            “He’ll bring you here, just pack up quickly,” Bill said with a curt tone, “When you next see me, I’ll be back to my proper human form. It’s a lot easier to maintain than this fleshbag…”

            “I’ll see you soon, I guess…” Mabel trailed off and then hung up.

            It was time to spring into action, then, Bill decided. He let his arms fall loosely at his sides, opening up the valve that held his powers back all the way. A golden light enveloped him. Slowly, his features began to change. His messy blond hair tidied itself up, the back becoming black and an undercut forming. His bangs straightened out and grew slightly, just long enough to cover his right eye which had become hidden under a triangular eyepatch. His baggy clothes turned into a dapper suit and coat. A white dress shirt now donned underneath a black vest and golden overcoat with brick patterning halfway up. Sleek black dress pants covered his now long legs, simple dress shoes covering plain socked feet, and white gloved hands peeked from his sleeves. He had grown to be closer to Tad’s height, which was a good four or five inches taller than Dipper, and his features had become much more regal and far less baby-faced than previously. This form was made out of pure energy and had no need of humane things like sleeping or eating, which is why Bill enjoyed it far more than the form he had been taking up until now.

            When his transformation had finished, he bent down and scooped up the still-sleeping brunet on the floor. He snatched up the leather journal and pens, tucking them into his coat for Dipper before casting his gaze around the apartment one last time, snapping his fingers, causing all of the décor to be moved to Stan’s house. With another snap of his fingers, he was standing in the attic room that had belonged to the twins for so many summers of their lives. Dipper’s bed was already there, so he laid the Pines man down and tucked him in before walking downstairs to investigate the rest of the house.

            It wasn’t as dilapidated as he thought it would be. In fact, for the most part it was pretty well the same as how he had left it, though that could have partially been because of the spell he had put on the building to preserve it until this day came. What a shame it had come so soon. Every single room was the same as the day that Stanley Pines died, save for the new additions of Dipper’s furniture and belongings. A warping sound outside announced Will and Mabel’s arrival.

            Going to meet them, Bill was greeted by his twin in his ethereal form as well. They looked practically exactly the same, except that Will’s coat was blue and his hair covered his left eye. The moment they were in each other’s presence, they realized that they had forgotten their hats. Snapping their fingers in unison, matching long, thin top hats appeared over their heads, floating about a half inch above their heads.

            “Alright, now that your snappy greeting is done, is my brother okay?” Mabel asked, crossing her arms at the demons before her.

            “He’s fine, Shooting Star. For now at least. I can’t say the same if Tad gets his claws on him,” Bill said, tilting his head towards her before nodding to Will, “I take it you brought Llama to her abode already?”

            Will nodded back, “Yes, she’s safe at home. Now, I need to get back there, or else the safe could be omitted from that fact. Take your Shooting Star to join the constellation and I’ll be on my way,” he responded, giving Mabel a slight push in the direction of the blond demon before disappearing with a slight pop.

            Mabel shoved past Bill and ran up to the attic, where she knew her brother would be. Bill followed from a distance, taking the journal and pens out of his coat and placing them on the desk that was against the wall opposite to Dipper’s bed. “He’s just asleep,” the demon informed the Pines woman as she turned to him with an accusing glare, “And either way, you have no right to be giving me that look. The rings were exchanged, just like they were supposed to be. They just didn’t work right.”

            As Bill finished speaking, Dipper groaned and sat up sleepily. He rubbed his eyes and saw Mabel sitting there in front of him. Of course, he immediately thought of the worst case scenario and assumed he was in the hospital dying, which Mabel assured him, he was not. Catching a glimpse of Bill in the background, he faltered.

            “Who is that and why is he in here? Where is here anyways?” he wondered, looking around the room, “Wait, are we back in Ford’s house? Why are we here? Mabel, what’s going on?”

            “Calm down, Pine Tree,” Bill said, stepping forwards and crouching at the edge of the bed beside Mabel. Even his voice had changed with the release of his power, “Everything is going to be fine. You need to trust me, okay? I need your promise to me to be that you will trust me on this.” As he spoke, he held up his ring finger, the promise ring that Dipper had given him the previous evening glinting in the red light from the tinted window.

            Dipper stared at the ring, a look of fear crossing his face as more memories that had been suppressed came rushing back. Fire, carnage, death and horror hit him in full force, and, above all, three words were echoing through his mind “ _TRUST NO ONE_ ”. With a yell, he knocked Bill’s hand away from him, causing a dark look to pass behind the blond’s golden eye. Dipper was screaming, covering his ears to try and block out the noises he heard in his head. He wanted these memories to stop, to stay repressed and hidden where they had been for months, maybe even years; time had broken in his mind’s depths a long time ago.

            The warm arms of his twin around him were the only things that calmed him from his high. He slowed his breathing and opened his eyes. Bill was no longer there. It was just Mabel and he, like it had always been, he thought. Any time that he was having a manic episode Mabel had always been the only one able to calm him back down, and any time he was in a depressive state, Mabel had always been the one to cheer him up. His twin was the only one who could help him when he was like this, and it had always been that way.

            “You calm now, Dip-dip?” Mabel asked, rubbing her twin’s back a bit.

            Dipper nodded, taking a deep breath. Why was that blond man so familiar? What happened to Bill, Will and Tad? Why did Tad make him so uneasy? All of these questions and more were whirling around in his mind, giving him a headache. He rubbed his temples in a feeble attempt at easing the pain.

            “Let’s go get you a drink of water and a painkiller,” the Pines woman took her brother’s arm and helped him up.

            “Who was that?” Dipper asked as they walked downstairs, “He… there’s something weird about him. He’s dangerous.”

            Mabel stopped him from continuing, both physically and verbally. “Dipper, you need to listen to me. What I’m about to say might sound insane, but it’s completely true; every single word of it,” she paused to let him understand what she had said.

            “Bill, that man that was with us in your room, is a demon; but listen, he’s on our side, and so is his brother Will. The reason you don’t remember any of this is because of something I asked Bill to do.

            “I got him to put a block on your memories, for your own safety. The near-apocalypse that happened caused your Bipolar disorder to become wickedly violent to the point where your manic episodes became dangerous.

            “There was also the factor of damage Tad inflicted. Tad is another demon, but he’s against us. You see, Bill has control of Gravity Falls and the surrounding forest’s magic, and the Mystery Shack is the place where his powers are strongest. Tad want’s Gravity Falls for his own power, and he’s willing to do _anything_ for it, including destroying the town itself and Bill. That’s where we come in-”

            Dipper covered her mouth to stop her from speaking. “Mabel, this is too much for me to wrap my head around right now. I can get that Bill’s a demon, but that man wasn’t Bill-” Dipper turned his head to look around the living room only to find someone strange there.

            The man standing there was tall, but he had the main features that the Bill _he_ knew: the mop of messy hair, save for the black tips, the golden eyes, and the lanky frame. The rest of him was similar to the Bill that _Mabel_ knew: he was dressed to the nines in his fancy coattails and top hat, which he tipped towards Dipper as he walked into the room.

            “Well, looks like you’ve calmed down quite a bit, Pine Tree,” the man said, taking a step toward him, “I need a moment with him, Shooting Star, if you don’t mind. I know you’ve explained the basics, but I need to explain a few things as well.”

            Mabel nodded and walked back upstairs, probably to busy herself with cleaning or repairs.

            Bill waited until she was out of earshot before speaking again, “You know what I am. I’m a demon, whether you believe me or not is your choice, but I can prove it to you over and over again if I have to,” he said, standing in front of Dipper, “But I would really not like to live up to Tad’s standard of ‘demonic’ if can help it, so I ask you to just believe me. I know you probably can’t trust me after the revelation that I ‘betrayed you’ of sorts, but I wish you could.”

            At Bill’s words, more memories broke through the dam, jumbling his thoughts a bit, but not as badly as before. Actually, it gave him answers this time…

            _Flames were going up all over town as strange monsters and various levels of demons flooded into this plane of existence. Dipper was standing on a small balcony on the roof of the Mystery Shack, watching the end of the world, or what was going to be close to it certainly, unable to do anything about it._

_Bill Cipher, one of the strongest demons to ever exist, had locked him and his family there for the time being, supposedly to keep them all safe. Though he had good intentions, the magic surrounding the place was attracting monsters and lower class demons and driving Dipper to his wits end with anxiety._

_He wanted to be out there, to be fighting alongside his demon._ His _demon, he repeated in his mind. Bill Cipher had claimed the Pines twins, specifically Dipper, as his humans their first summer in the Falls. The demon’s reasoning of the claim was to protect them while also building up his powers by having a source of magical energy. Over the years, Dipper and Mabel went up more and more often, not only to see Bill, who was bound to the town, but because they had grown very fond of the quaint area and it’s magical properties. When their parents divorced, they became closer to each other and their Grunkle Stand and Grandpa Ford, and instead of going between their parents, they moved to Gravity Falls._

_Dipper had begun to study magic and the like under Bill’s supervision, and soon, they had gotten closer than anyone would have thought. Since Bill was a demon and didn’t have a soul, he couldn’t feel the same way as humans, but Dipper helped with that. Dipper was his humanity and somehow, he had gotten feelings, emotions, through the young Pines._

_This was something rare that occurred, Bill had told Dipper, it only happens when two soulmates meet each other and it creates an inseparable bond between the two. It is also impossible if both counterparts are human, or if they’re both demons. This is a Humanity-Link, he explained, and it’s something that has only been heard of once, in another world, another universe… and it was an alternate of this one… an alternate us._

Dipper had believed Bill at the time, and if he was going to be honest… he still did, because what else could have explained how he felt from the moment they ‘met’?

            “Pine Tree? Is everything okay?” Bill questioned, putting a hand on Dipper’s shoulder, to which both of their surprise, wasn’t shrugged off.

            Dipper looked up into the demon’s eyes, searching for any deception in their depths. He found absolutely none. The only emotions in the demon’s eyes were concern and care. He looked away and took a deep breath.

            “I trusted you… and I still do. So, explain what you need to, I’ll listen. Just let me ask questions if I have them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the durations of the holidays, I''m going to be uploading a lot cause I need January for studying for exams. Yay, exam season and summative season is upon us, please just end me now.
> 
> Also, you thought this was going to be a cute domestic fic? HAHA fuck that. This is going to be a very very interesting story from here on out, and there will be NSFW in coming chapters, though I'm not sure how soon. Don't kill me for this but it's going to be heartwrenching as well, like really, really, heartwrenching.


	7. The Beginning of the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays to everyone! I'm working hard on this for the next week or so, so expect another update or two before January.

“I don’t want to talk here, in the house,” Bill said, nodding towards the door, “Let’s go outside, and take a walk around the forest maybe.”

            Dipper was reluctant at first; all of his views on Bill were shifting with new memories occasionally mixing in with the ones that were already existing. At one moment he saw the blond as his protector, at another, Bill was his partner, and at another, he was a soulless demon who only wanted destruction. Although he was fairly certain that last memory was distorted in some way, he couldn’t help but feel like that that really was how the man walking before him was at some point before they met.

            “So,” Bill started once they were in the forest’s greenish light, “You said that I should, and could, explain things, and you would listen. The thing is, you already know what happened, it’s just that you just don’t remember it. Eventually all of your memories will come back, but until then, I really don’t know if I should explain everything.”

            “Why though? Why can’t, or why shouldn’t you, explain?” Dipper questioned, picking his pace up a bit to walk beside the demon, “Would it, like, be detrimental to me or something?”

            Bill let out a light chuckle, “Actually, it could be, but I was thinking more along the lines of I shouldn’t tell you what you already know, because it’ll all make sense by the final fight, if Tad has his way…” he trailed off, a sullen look on his face, “And I hate to say this, but at the rate we’re at now, I think he’s going to for once.”

            Dipper reached out and grabbed Bill’s hand, squeezing it lightly. The atmosphere seemed too heavy for the beauty of the forest. The light from the setting sun shone through snow covered branches, dappling the ground with shadows and sunny patches. The ice and snow glittered in the sun, casting bright lights around them, reflecting off each other and causing a brilliant spectacle. The two walked in solemn silence through the dazzling scenery, each step bringing them closer to a destination only Bill knew.

            Bill stopped them in a large clearing. Well, it was mostly a clearing, if you ignored the towering pine tree in the center of it. Dipper was about to question what they were doing there, but Bill answered him before the words could even form on his lips.

            “This is where I first saw you. You weren’t aware of me even, but I was aware of you, and that was enough at the time,” Bill said, looking up at the tree with nostalgia, “I sat in those branches in the Mindscape, and I watched you come here every day and write. When the day came that you didn’t show up, I still stayed and waited for you to come. I waited all year, then, at the beginning of summer, there you were. You looked older than the last time I had seen you, but you were unmistakable.”

            Dipper listened to Bill speak, completely enraptured by the tone and the tale, he clung to the voice like it was his last hope and it could stop any pain, any terrible occurrences in the world.

            “I changed my own appearance so I would appear to be your age. It was your second summer here, and you were thirteen, I would later find out. Not yet old enough to be claimed as my human, but I would wait. I would wait for two years, actually, and then I would make my appearance, is what I had planned,” Bill had walked up to the tree and put his hand on one of the lower branches, a small smile gracing his features.

            “Of course, life had other plans that interfered with mine, and we met much earlier than that. You brought your sister to the tree one day, and I was shocked. So shocked that you had a twin actually, that I popped right out of the Mindscape and landed in the human world on that branch.”

            Dipper smiled as he began to remember as well, “I was really confused. You had appeared out of nowhere, and I was already feeling like I was losing my mind that day, but somehow, I knew that we were meant to meet like that,” he whispered, his voice sounding like it was the wind telling the story, “There was something about you in that first moment that I saw you that told me everything I needed to know.”

            “And then, when you left for the rest of the year, I was disheartened. You surprised me yet again though when you came back with the announcement that you were staying there from then on out,” Bill looked at Dipper, a warm expression on his face, “and I was so happy; so very happy that you were staying. That’s when I realized what you were.”

            “I was your soulmate. I would give you the Humanity-Link, and by the time I knew what that was, I already had, just by being friends with you,” Dipper continued for Bill, joining him at the branch, “Little did I know what you were though. I had no idea that the person I was such good friends with was a supposedly evil demon out to destroy the town, or that was what my Grunkle and Grandpa called you at least.”

            “And by the time you learned that, it was too late to stop what came next,” Bill added, “You had been dragged into something that I never wanted for you, a world too dark for someone so young. Tad showed up and tried to lay claim on my territory, the place where I had been connected too for millennia.”

            With the pieces falling into place as his memory returned, Dipper was able to say what came next, “It was peaceful until Tad showed up. He claimed Gideon Gleeful as his own and twisted the mind of the once-decent boy. The results of the damage he caused were enough to last for another few years, until the final battle. Gideon was discarded as Tad gained enough power to challenge you himself, and destruction soon followed.”

            “Buildings burned, families were torn apart, and once sacred and pure land was defiled. The damage would last for centuries, is still in effect by that note, and even though the people would recover with no memory of what happened, the demons involved would forever live with the weight of the hell they raised and the carnage they caused.

            “‘Was it worth it?’ we would all ask, and none of us knew the answer. None of us will ever know it. ‘Are we even still demons if we do this?’ we would ask as we used what remained of our current power to heal the land as best as we could and to bring back some of the mythical creatures that inhabited the land. ‘Were we ever really demons?’ we ask still to this day as we all look out for our humans that we claimed, though they may not be our soulmates. ‘What does it even mean to be a demon if we have soulmates?’ we will always ask, for we will never know the answer. ‘What separates us from humans other than the lack of a human soul?’ we ask in this moment as we fall for the same creatures that label us as so evil. ‘We can still love, though it’s much stranger a feeling for us, so what really makes us so different?’ is the question we all strive to know the answer to, but never will because it’s so obvious.”

            “‘What really defines humanity?’ I ask the demon before me, because there are humans who are far crueler than any demon I’ve met. ‘Does everyone have a soulmate?’ I will always yearn for the answer to the question, though I never want it answered. ‘What is a soul, even?’ I wonder, staring into space. ‘Are souls just concepts? What if they’re actually what births a star? What is their point?’ are questions I want to know the answers to so badly, but at the same time, never want to know the answers to, because why do we have to put labels on everything? Human, demon, angel, they all can be good, they all can be bad, so what’s the point in even trying to define any of them with solid lines? Even good and bad can’t be given a solid definition, so why try to classify things into loose concepts? ‘Everyone has morals of their own, pure, impure or otherwise different, it doesn’t make them less of a person, demon or anything else really because nobody is perfect, and even the worst creature out there has one spot of weakness, even if it’s buried so deeply inside’ I tell the man before me, hoping to ease his mind and stop the burning questions that I sense lurking within him,” Dipper said quietly, reaching out to brush Bill’s hair out of his face, revealing two beautiful golden eyes staring at him in wonder.

            “You know, there are times when I wish that I could answer those questions, myself,” Bill responded quietly after a minute, “There are also times where I wonder just how many times we could meet, and just how many times would the same outcome happen. I wonder if we’re the only pair of soulmates out there, but I feel like I already know the answer at times.”

            The two stood there for a very long time, just staring into each other’s eyes, wondering and awestruck. The world around them became non-existent, for they only had eyes for each other. Though the thoughts were still swirling around their minds, they didn’t mind it. They questioned things together, still keeping their thoughts separate, like how they had worked together in the kitchen. The memories of their time in the apartments seemed like something from another century, though it has been less than a day ago that they were there, enjoying each other’s presence in a domestic setting. Even though that time was gone, they were ready to face the upcoming battle together, no matter how soon or how long it would be for that battle to arrive.

            As if on cue, the shriek of a crow brought them out of their trance.

            “We should be getting back soon,” Dipper said with a slightly embarrassed chuckle, “Mabel will be worrying her head off about us.”

            “You sister certainly is the entertaining one, but I can’t deny that you’re not too shabby yourself,” Bill laughed, putting an arm around the shorter male and pulling him to his side, “I mean, the two of you worry so much, I’m starting to worry about the two of you.”

            “That kind of contradicts the point, you fool,” the brunet lightly shoved Bill before being pulled back to his side.

            They continued their light banter all the way back to the house. By the time they got back, it was already dusk, and they were left wondering how they had been gone so long. Dipper was getting an off feeling about the entire situation, though most people would try and pass it off as simply ‘time flies when you’re having fun’. He broke away from Bill’s side and went inside, calling out Mabel’s name and checking in every room, finding nothing. He met Bill back in the living room.

            “Bill, I can’t find Mabel,” he said, his brow furrowed, “She’s not the type to just up and leave without somehow getting a hold of me and letting me know.”

            Bill nodded in agreement, “You’re right. There’s also the fact that it’s dusk. We were out there for a while, but not that long. Someone manipulated time around here, and it’s not for good intentions.”

            “It’s Tad isn’t it?” Dipper asked.

            Bill shook his head. “Someone who’s working with him, but not Tad himself. He would leave a larger energy residue on the area.”

            Dipper paced the room anxiously. What had happened to Mabel? The only answer that made sense with what Bill told him was that one of Tad’s underlings took her and changed time to confuse the two who had been gone.

            “This is only the start,” Bill piped up, “Things are going to get much worse, and you’re not going to be prepared at all when they do… unless you follow my instructions that is.”

            “Your instructions?” the human questioned, “And those would be?”

            “From here on out, you’re learning magic. This is something you don’t have a say in at this point,” the demon explained, “If you want to stop this, you’ll need to train your abilities. You should remember some basic things about them if I give you a little push on it.”

            At his words, small blue flames surrounded Dipper and began to move quickly towards him. He dodged them easily without any powers being used, so Bill created a circle of the flame around the boy.

            “Unless you use your powers, you’re not getting out of this unscathed, Pine Tree,” Bill purred, floating in a cross-legged position outside of the brunet’s magic range, “And you _do_ know some magic, including a basic shield spell that should work for-” the blond was cut off as a strong force hit him and his flames backwards, knocking the air out of him. He straightened himself out with a curious look in his eyes. So, Dipper Pines had gotten stronger since his memories were sealed away. How could that be though? He hadn’t used magic in a very long time, so his powers should be underdeveloped, not stronger. The only way that this was possible was if Dipper had been subconsciously using magic the entire time some way or another, but that was impossible because Bill would have sensed it. Unless… but that really _was_ impossible for humans to do, or at least, someone so new to magic as Dipper, though Bill was beginning to question that fact in itself.

            “Like that?” the brunet questioned, “While you were out fighting, I was practicing my ass off. Your protection spell started to wear off, so I put a new one up, sadly I still managed to get myself stuck in the damn shack’s perimeter.”

            Bill’s expression became slightly sour as he replied with: “Well, I could have been informed of this when I got back to the shack instead of almost a full year after I left and blocked your brain up.”

            “Anyways, we should probably go and find Mabel,” Dipper sighed, becoming worried again, “I really don’t want her to be gone for too long. Remember, forty-eight hours is usually the timeframe that we have for a missing person before the chances of them being alive dwindles down quickly.”

            “Being a crime-fiction writer has its perks doesn’t it?” the demon asked, grabbing Dipper’s hand and tugging him out the door, “You get to know some pretty interesting things that usually wouldn’t come in handy, but since you’re with a demon, it’s basic knowledge to have.”

            Dipper nodded silently, “How are we going to even find Mabel? I mean, you said it yourself, there’s barely any residing energy from whoever changed the time, so-” he mumbled.

            Bill put his finger up to the boy’s lips, silencing him. “We _will_ find her, Pine Tree. I promise you that. I might have to go search by myself, but she will be brought back,” he said, pulling Dipper into a hug, “I can’t just let one of my humans be taken away from me, now can I? Especially when she’s so important to my other human.”

            Dipper nodded into his chest, wrapping his arms around the man that he used to hold, he used to protect from his troubles, in the exact same way that he was being held at that moment. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t forget those few months where their only problems were domestic and simply overcome. Yes, he knew that none of it was _real_ per-say, but it felt real, and to him, that’s what counted the most. He knew that it was all an act, and that everyone he had met was probably in on it, but even so, it was one of the most amazing times he had ever had.

            The two of them were broken from their moment by a familiar yell. They looked up to see Mabel walking up the road towards them. Dipper broke away from Bill and ran up to her, almost giving her a bear hug before noticing the pizza box in her hands and stopping himself.

            “What’s got you so excited to see me?” Mabel chuckled at him, her usual bright smile on her face. She had gotten her braces removed a few years ago, but she always had a quirky smile.

            “We thought- we…” Dipper trailed off, sighing, unsure how to word it, “We thought one of Tad’s followers had taken you and manipulated the time to confuse us.”

            Mabel gave him an incredulous look before bursting out in raucous laughter. “Oh, Dipper, I’m sorry to worry you like that, but we didn’t have anything for dinner, so I decided to go get something. My phone was dead and I couldn’t find a paper and pen since you high jacked all of them and hid them in your room,” she explained once she calmed down some.

            “How does that explain the time though?” the male Pines twin asked.

            “Did the two of you happen to be at that clearing where we first met Bill?” Mabel questioned back, “Because that clearing is frozen to the time when you enter it. Why do you think the Stans worried about us so much? We were gone for _hours_ when we were younger, but it only felt like minutes because of how time works there.”

            Dipper turned and gave Bill an accusatory glare. “Hey, it’s been a while; I forget things at times too. Plus, I always feel the time there, so I never actually noticed what the clearing did, I just always thought the two of you were so lost in whatever we were doing that you didn’t notice the time,” the blond said, holding his hands up in a way that said ‘don’t look at me for your human stupidity’.

            Dipper just sighed, “We should get inside. It’s chilly out and I’m hungry.”

            Mabel let out a cheer of agreement, walking towards the house chanting ‘pizza party’.

            The rest of the evening was spent watching cheesy movies and eating popcorn and various other forms of junk food. When Mabel told the boys that she was turning in for the night, they wished her goodnight and sweet dreams. It was calmer then, nothing really going on except the sound of the movie and the crunching of chips. After about ten minutes, Bill spoke up.

            “It’s time to train,” is all he said before snapping his fingers and transporting them to the Mindscape.

            It looked different than the previous times he had been there, Dipper noted. Yes, everything was still greyscale, but there was a strange lightness to it, like it had gotten a more positive influence. He wasn’t given any time to think about the place before being thrown into a fight, blue flames flying at him in a large wall.

            He panicked and threw his arms out to his sides out of instinct, a large white circle spreading out from his body, blasting away the flames, and pushing Bill backwards. More attacks were thrown at him and he dodged, deflected and blocked each one, even finding time to throw a couple his own attacks back at the demon. His power manifested itself as either a white light, or a bright silver flame depending on the attack or defense. When he was on offence, it was the flames, which he hurtled at Bill at ridiculous speeds, giving the other man no time to procure a way out of being hit with the blunt of the attack. When he was in defense, it was the white, protective light that surrounded him, blocking or deflecting the blue fire aimed at him.

            For a probably very long amount of time, this routine continued on; Bill getting hit with Dipper’s attacks and Dipper receiving absolutely no damage what so ever. Bill eventually ended the fight by swiping his hand diagonally through the air, bringing them back to the mortal world.

            Bill sat down on the couch, panting. Dipper was worried that he had seriously hurt the demon, before he looked up at the brunet with a proud grin.

            “You did good, kid,” Bill said, still breathing heavily, “I’d dare say that you’re strong enough to fight beside me, but you still have a long way to go before you’re able to beat Tad.”

            This confused Dipper, “What does that mean?” he asked, “Aren’t you strong enough to beat him with my help?”

            Bill let out a slight chuckle, “I certainly am, but I can guarantee that you could wipe him off the face of the earth, and every other universe, really, by yourself with a few months of training,” he explained, “But to get there, you’re going to have to train with me daily, and if you get to the point where you can destroy Tad, you’ll have had to do so to me first. You see, Tad is extremely strong. I would even go as far as saying he’s actually my equal.”

            Dipper shook his head, “I refuse to do so,” he stated simply, crossing his arms, “I won’t destroy you, even if it means I can’t fight Tad.”

            “You don’t get it. Tad will kill me if you don’t. He’s strong enough as is, and he’s only going to get stronger, now that he’s brought Gideon back,” Bill snapped, “It’s not even an option of kill or be killed at this point. There’s going to be death on both sides, that’s the reality of it, Pine Tree.”

            Dipper looked extremely pained at hearing that, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. Realizing just what Dipper probably thought he meant, Bill tried to call him back, but Dipper had already run off, disappearing upstairs.

            Bill let out a sigh. He didn’t mean it like that, or, well, maybe he did, actually, but he hadn’t meant to upset Dipper like that. He was stating things how they were; they couldn’t win without people dying on both sides of the fight. Every once in a while, Bill tended to forget humans were a bit more sensitive to death than demons were. Yes, death was a daily thing for humans, but for them it was a sentimental affair, not just any other day, for some strange reason.

            He decided to give Pine Tree some space, letting the brunet calm down before going to speak with him again. Snapping his fingers, he appeared in a greyscale of the Mystery Shack; the Mindscape that was overlapping everything. Taking the form that tended to be most efficient here, his triangular demon form, he floated up to the attic, watching his human silently.

            He ran his small hand through the man’s soft hair, wondering just how many times he had told himself that he was going to give Dipper space, but just watching him from the Mindscape instead. He sighed again somehow, taking into consideration that this form had no mouth; he did as best he could. Yes, this form was more energy-efficient for the Mindscape, that didn’t mean that he liked it better, though. He switched back, the feeling of Dipper’s hair becoming more prominent under his fingers. The younger human rolled over, apparently asleep. Bill smirked slightly. It was just like him to sleep his troubles away, and the training probably exhausted him enough to fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

            “Oh, Pine Tree,” Bill hummed, “I wish was able to protect you from what’s coming up…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really happy with the Clearing Scene (Where they're talking about what it means to be a human or demon). I doubt any of you actually read this, but anyways, I'm wondering what you guys think of it. Let me know in the comments, I love hearing your opinions.
> 
> Also, I know this was a shorter chapter, I just couldn't help but end it there, it was so perfect.


	8. Are You Really Human?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINA-FUCKING-LY FINISHED IT.

            When Dipper woke, Bill was sitting at his desk, just like the day before. “How long was I out for?” he mumbled sleepily, rubbing his eyes to clear the crusty bits from them.

            Bill turned around to look at him, a bit of shock in his eyes as he looked up from the book he was reading. “About twelve hours. Shooting Star came in to check on you a while ago. I’m guessing she’s downstairs right now, or out shopping for groceries,” he said, marking his page and putting the book down on the desk top.

            Dipper nodded, blinking himself into a slightly more aware state of being. He sat up, wincing at how much pain he was in. The events of the night prior came back to him as he woke up more.

            “You used a lot of your energy last night for training,” Bill explained, “it’s no wonder you’re in pain.” The blond moved Dipper over on his bed, then laid down next to him, his arms wrapping around the brunet’s middle.

            Dipper, being in no state or mood to move him, let Bill nuzzle into him for a while. After a few minutes, he ended up carding his fingers through the blond locks that had been so very tempting to play with. Bill’s hair was extremely soft, almost like angora. He let the strands trail between his fingers each time he ran his hand through the light yet thick fringe. When he stopped or hesitated, Bill pushed his head up to make him continue.

            “You’re like a cat, you know?” Dipper commented, more stating a fact than asking Bill about it.

            Bill only let out a small, upset noise and reached up to grab Dipper’s hand, placing it back in his hair. The brunet let out a chuckle, continuing to play with his partner’s hair. They stayed like that for another while, just being with each other, content with the other’s presence.

            Dipper began to feel a weight in his chest. He knew what was coming, somehow. He knew that there wouldn’t be long until the final battle, and the inevitable. Subconsciously, he tightened his hold around Bill, holding him as close as he could.

            “Hey, Pine Tree,” Bill tried to get Dipper to lighten his hold a bit, “you don’t have to hold that tight. I’m not leaving.”

            When Bill mentioned it, Dipper’s grip became slack and he let out a deep sigh. He didn’t want to talk about it. Yes, he knew he couldn’t run away from it forever, just, now was not the time he wanted to face it. Not when everything was so comfortable and so quiet and almost perfect.

            Bill sensed Dipper’s mood and got up. He grabbed the brunet’s hand and pulled him up; consequently dragging every blanket onto the floor and making them both trip a bit with the momentum.

            “Come on,” the blond said. “I know it seems like everything is dark ahead of us, but that may not be the case.”

            “What do you mean?” Dipper asked.

            “Well,” Bill said with a wink and a smirk, “everything seems like it’s hopeless ahead of us, right? That might be the case if you look at it like that, but there are other ways to see it. Instead of thinking of it as the end of something, like how the story of our apartment life seems, think of it as a new beginning. Each time a story ‘ends’ a new one starts.

            “‘How do I look at things that way?’ you might be asking. Well, let me tell you this: you need only one word to make it different. ‘What is that word though?’ you could be thinking. You know it; you just don’t _know_ it yet. ‘How does _that_ make sense?’ you ask. You know that as well, you just don’t _remember_ it right now. Everything will come to you, and what I’m saying will make sense in due time.

            “Just remember that one word when that time comes. Promise me that, and you’ll be protected from anything that comes your way.”

            With that, Bill let go of Dipper’s hand and walked out of the room, leaving the brunet intrigued.

            The things that the blond had said made him wonder just what that word was. Was it a special word that only the two of them knew, or was it a code word? Could it be a spell, or could it be… could it just be an ordinary word? A word with no special meaning. Just… a word. A word that would protect him… what could that be? Could it be a shield spell, or the word shield? He had a feeling that he would figure it out. There was another feeling in there as well. A feeling that told him Bill had majorly hinted at it, maybe even said it, or some variation of it at least. He had hope that he could figure out what the word was.

            He quickly got dressed and hurried out of his room, taking the stairs two and three at a time, arriving with a slide in the kitchen. Bill and Mabel laughed and clapped a bit at his performance.

            The two could sense something different about him that morning, as he bounded around, bright and cheery like nothing could be wrong. They watched him through the window as he practiced old spells, working with them like they were brand new.

            “You know, he’s got it down,” Bill said as Dipper created a tornado of leaves around him, lifting him up high in the air and then back to the ground.

            “What do you mean?” Mabel questioned, looking at the demon standing next to her.

            “I mean he has it down. The one word that can change everything,” he explained, waving his hand a bit for emphasis.

            All Mabel did in response was smile and shrug. She knew that he did, but she didn’t know how long he would…

            Dipper stayed out there for a few hours, working with different spells, practicing techniques that his mind may have forgotten, but his body and soul remembered like he had been using them every day since he had been born. He twisted the elements to his will, working them to their core energy. Bill watched him the entire time, ready to step in if he seemed to be overworking himself, but his help wasn’t needed. Dipper worked tirelessly, an endless supply of energy seemingly within him. It was only when it began to darken outside that he stopped and came inside.

            “Want to take another walk?” he asked Bill after dinner, already putting on his shoes, certain that the demon would say yes.

            The blond chuckled and nodded at his partner’s certainty. He certainly knew him well. Night time walks were one of his favourite things, though he missed the eastern regions where there were fireflies everywhere. Oregon and Gravity Falls in particular, were beautiful, but sadly fireflies were not indigenous to the area.

            The two walked out into the forest, sticking to the path for now. They were silent, but words were unnecessary in the moment, the air around them crackling with magic, speaking for them.

            The walked to a flat, green clearing with a small pond in the middle that seemed to be glowing a bright blue. Small, bright bugs were flying around. They weren’t fireflies, that was for sure, but what were they?

            “I don’t know for sure myself,” said Dipper, “and I sort of helped in their creation.”

            Bill glanced over at the brunet standing next to him at the edge of the glowing pond. What a mystery this boy was. He could create, or at least help create, a species, but he couldn’t tell what they were. He had a world of power at his command, but only used it for fun and games.

            Bill looked around some more, taking in the details of the clearing. The trees had a layer of thick green moss along their northern side, and the pond was filled with water lilies at the edges. Taking a step closer to the water, he noted that it may be relatively small in circumference, but it was too deep to see the bottom of it. He thought he saw a few pairs of eyes glowing from the depths when he looked around it.

            “Where are we?” Bill asked, turning to see Dipper with his head underwater, bubbles coming up. “More importantly, what the hell are you doing?”

            Dipper lifted his head out of the water, grinning ear to ear. It was times like these, when Dipper showed the same personality he had when Bill first met him, that made the demon treasure his time with the brunet. The two of them had known each other for years, but every once in a while, Bill felt like he was meeting Dipper all over again for the first time. The way his face was defined, but still held its soft roundness over the years. The way his eyes showed knowledge beyond his years, but still were bright and childishly innocent. Dipper was a mystery to the demon, even after six years of knowing him.

            The look Bill was giving Dipper made the brunet grin even wider, for he knew that look. It was a look of adoration, a look of meeting anew. Dipper got that look and he remembered things about Bill that he knew, but they didn’t seem important at the time. Like the way the ends of his hair at the back curled out slightly before sweeping in to get close to his neck. Or the way his teeth weren’t completely straight, and how they became slightly pointed the further away from his incisors they got. Or the way his freckles glowed slightly in dim to no light. Every little thing about Bill, Dipper noticed more prominently when he was being given that look, like the mood or message behind the look transferred to him if he saw it.

            “I was talking to the Naiads,” the brunet said, like that was the most obvious thing in the world.

            “There are Naiads in Gravity Falls? This is new.” Bill mumbled mostly to himself.

            “They’ve only been here for a couple of years. Their species migrated here when the waters closer to the cities became too polluted for them to breathe.” He explained simply.

            “It’s been quite a while since I’ve been back here, that’s for sure,” the demon sighed, looking around at the now strange forest. “I wish that I had been able to come back and stay in those few years after the war, but I had work to do. Apparently I did my job well, if the Naiads here are anything to judge by.”

            “Did it really take three years to fix Gravity Falls?” Dipper asked quietly, watching Bill play hand games with one of the water sprites that had gotten near him. “I mean, was it really that badly damaged by the war?”

            Bill nodded gravely. “It was. Tad had ripped its core magic out for his own selfish uses, and those of us fighting for the land had to spend almost all of our energy that was left, fixing his mess. We nearly completely drained ourselves daily for two and a half years, just to help the land we cared so much about.”

            “What did you do with those last six months, if you weren’t fixing The Falls?” Dipper questioned.

            “Preparing your time away from here,” Bill answered. “Your sister told me just how bad your state was, and I knew that you needed away from the Shack for a while; you needed away from magic for a while. I hated lying to you when we were neighbours, but it had to be done in order to protect you.”

            “Then Tad had to come and show his face, right?”

            Bill only nodded and withdrew his hand from the water, making the Naiad pout a bit before swimming away to join their family. “He ruined the hard work Will and I had put into keeping you safe and naïve.”

            They sat there in silence for a while, just staring out over the water, lost in their own thoughts. If it hadn’t been for Mabel showing up, they probably would have stayed there all night.

            “It’s late you two, and it’s freezing out here. If I let you stay here any longer, you’ll both get frostbite, and I couldn’t let you do that, right?” Mabel called from the edge of the clearing, not wanting to get too close to the water; the Naiads weren’t the friendliest to her. “I mean, what kind of sister would I be if I let my two favourite boys get sick?”

            The boys looked behind them to see Mabel standing there with scarves, hats and mitts for them. Dipper let out a chuckle while Bill gave her a wide grin as they got up and went over to her. She wrapped the scarves around their necks, plopped the hats on their heads and gave them each a pair of gloves to put on, which they did thankfully. Neither had realized just how cold it was while they were at the water.

            The three made their way back to the Shack, completely unaware of the violet eyes watching them go…

▲▼▲

            Tad Strange sat in his office, watching the Naiads pond and the two idiots messing around near it. Oh how easy it would be to send a message to the Naiads telling them to pull the two under and keep them there. But no, he had to wait for his move. He was playing black this game and he had to wait for white to make its first move before playing his pawns. He wouldn’t send in his knights right away this time. No, this time he would bluff his way around the board, setting up an ultimate attack, a checkmate, and letting the opponent get rid of the useless pieces all the while. Right when they thought they were going to win, Tad would swoop in and point out just what he had done, with only a few pieces. He had to make sure his queen didn’t get taken though, and that would be the hard part once things got rolling.

            A knock on the door interrupted his watching, snatching his attention from the retreating pawns on his screen. He swiped his hand through the projection and called out “Come in!”

            A tall woman stepped into the room, her long magenta hair swinging behind her as she walked. He pale skin looked like porcelain in the office lighting, and her large, doll-like eyes scanned the air where Tad’s screen had been moments before.

            “Were you just spying on them?” she asked nodding at him, opening a large bag and flipping through it for a stack of papers.

            “And what if I was?” Tad snapped, turning away from her.

            “Well, if I wasn’t working with you, I would say you’re technically making the first move by doing that.” She explained, still flipping through her bag.

            “I’m not making any moves; I’m just keeping an eye on my opponent’s non-existent strategy,” he mumbled, pouting a bit.

            The woman chuffed. “Are all male demons like this? If so, I’m glad I stayed away from all of you.”

            Tad turned around, a disbelieving expression on his face. “You’re not even a demon, Ruby. You’re a dragon and therefore have no say in the acts of us demons,” he said, crossing his arms and looking stern.

            “I am not a _dragon_ , I am a _drakon_. There is a difference Thaddeus, learn it.”

            “Whatever,” Tad brushed off her use of his full name, “do you have the documents for me?”

            “That’s what I’m looking for,” she mumbled, ruffling around a bit more before making a noise of exclamation and pulling out a file folder. “And here it is. I’m running a business here, Tad; I can’t be completely organized all the time. It’s impossible, even for me.”

            Tad took the documents from her, flipping through them for a moment before nodding and snapping his fingers. A small satchel full of platinum coins appeared on the desk between the two accomplices, and Ruby eyed it greedily. “Now I know that dragons and drakons both like gold, and I know how dragons feel about platinum, but what about drakons and platinum? What are your thoughts on it?” Tad asked, pushing the satchel closer to the drakon standing before him. “Is this an acceptable form of payment? I don’t do gold, too tacky, but this could certainly be worth a small fortune.”

            “That will do just fine, Strange,” Ruby said, picking up the bag and storing it in her large purse. “I’m glad that this exchange went well.”

            Tad turned around in his chair, facing the wall and he heard Ruby open the door and leave, the heavy wood closing loudly behind her. She had always been tricky to work with, but all she needed to become cooperative was a decent sum of money and maybe precious metals to go with it, sometimes Tad could be lucky enough for her to accept two in one, like this job.

            Turning back to his desk, he opened the folder to see a black and white photo of Dipper Pines standing outside the Mystery Shack. He flipped the page a few times, similar photos of him and his sister standing around, with the pizza man, talking to each other, just standing there sometimes. When he was about six or seven photos in, he almost felt his heart stop beating. Bill Cipher was staring directly at him, murder in his grey eyes that almost looked like their luminescent gold even in the dull picture. Tad stared at the picture for a few minutes, trying to discern just what else was in the blond demon’s eyes. Yes there was murder, but behind that was a look of protection.

            How did Cipher even know that he was being photographed? The camera was concealed with heavy magic, which was concealed with more concealing spells by weaker level demons. This was worrying to Tad. His enemy knew what he was up to, and was likely going to be keeping the Pines twins under a very tight lock until he makes his move.

            The only thing Tad was sure of in this case was that Cipher knew what he was up to, and his strategy was going to have to change soon.

▲▼▲

            Dipper sat on the couch with Bill. He, Mabel and Bill were watching a movie marathon to try and get their minds off of the upcoming problems. He didn’t want to call it a war, because it didn’t feel like one. It felt more sinister, but less at the same time. There was something strange about the upcoming battle, and Dipper wasn’t sure he wanted to know just what it was that was strange.

            The male Pines twin was torn from his thoughts by a piece of popcorn hitting him in the face. He looked over at his sister who was spread out across the entire floor, blanket, pillows and bowls of food scattered around her.

            “What?” he asked, searching his pyjamas for the popcorn.

            “You looked like you were thinking,” Mabel said simply, “and I wasn’t going to let you think when you’re supposed to be relaxing.”

            Bill burst out laughing, curling in on himself, black tipped curls bouncing around his face as he shook with his giggles. The twins looked at him in confusion, glancing at each other worriedly.

            “You… really think that you can get him to stop thinking?” Bill gasped once he had calmed down slightly. “He’s a walking, talking thought processor. He never stops thinking, like a computer that’s always on or…” his face scrunches up in thought, making the twins snicker. Hearing their laughter, Bill looks up with a grin on his face. “I knew I could get the two of you to lighten up somehow.”

            Dipper was smiling at his two favourite people in the world, feeling like he hadn’t a care in the world. Bill had that effect on him at times, he noticed. When he was feeling really down, or he was stressed out or anxious, Bill would be there with a goofy grin and a slightly disturbing story to bring him back up to par. Even at time like these, with a war looming over them, the demon was able to pick him back up.

            “Well, maybe we should all head off to bed,” Mabel suggested, “it’s getting late, and I can almost guarantee Dipper has an alarm set, even though he doesn’t have to.”

            “I like to have a consistent schedule, thank you very much,” he said, shoving at her with his foot, missing by a mile and almost falling off the couch.

            Bill poked at Dipper’s leg, finding it to be a little too close to his face for comfort. “I agree with Shooting Star on this one,” he said, yawning for effect, “You have a terrible sleep schedule, alibi a consistent one. You go to bed way too late and get up way too early for a human.”

            Dipper just scoffed in response. It was the life of a writer, he had always tried to convince himself, insomniac tendencies are normal for people who write for a living. He knew it was only half true, deep down. He probably was actually a really bad insomniac, if he thought about the factors logically. Even after he was exhausted most of the time, and out of inspiration for his story, he would stay up, just staring at the blank page on his laptop. He would sit there for hours on end and wouldn’t even touch his keyboard, Bill could attest to this.

            “Come on, small one.” Bill said, grabbing Dipper’s arm and tugging him up. “You look about ready to pass out right here. You’re getting all spacey.”

            “Don’t let him near his laptop!” Mabel called out as the two men walked up to the attic, receiving an affirmative noise in response.

            She was getting worried about her brother. He was worse off than he had been prior to meeting Tad. There was also the fact that she knew Bill was hiding something, and he didn’t.

            The demon never went into any real detail with her when talking about what was happening, but there was something more in his words, a second meaning that only he understood. He twisted his phrasing to make it sound more complex than it probably was in reality, and he left out large bits of important information when discussing plans for the upcoming battle.

            There was something he was hiding, and it was going to be detrimental to them if they didn’t figure out what it was…

            Up in the attic, Dipper was fighting with Bill about going to sleep.

            “I’m not tired, Bill,” he groaned, looking exasperated with his entire body, “I’m just…”

            Bill let out a triumphant exclamation, “I got you there! You can’t say that you’re just tired because you just said you weren’t tired, and therefore, I beat you here.”

            “Holy crap, why are you so insistent that I go to sleep right now?” Dipper asked, conceding and beginning to change into the pyjamas that Bill had thrown at him.

            “I’m so insistent because you need to at least attempt to go to bed earlier.”

            “Why though? I could just sleep through my alarm if I wanted to; or turn it off.”

            “You couldn’t do that. You’re too reliant on keeping your wake up time consistent. Why do you feel like you have to be so consistent anyways?”

            Dipper sighed, tossing his shirt at Bill’s head, missing the blond by a few inches at best. “Because of how inconsistent my life was before I got to know what a routine was. So, technically, those months that we were in the apartments that started this is your entire fault.”

            “How is this all my fault?” Bill asked, throwing his hands in the air.

            “Wasn’t it you who moved me to the apartments, and wasn’t it you who bugged me for three full months about not having proper scheduling?”

            “Well, you didn’t. I didn’t think that you would get- what are you doing? I gave you proper pyjamas for a reason you idiot.” Bill stopped bugging Dipper about his schedule obsession to pester him about his clothing choice.

            “I don’t exactly wear pyjamas to sleep, Bill. You know this.” Dipper rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his bare chest as he stood in the middle of the room in nothing but his boxers.

            “You did when we were almost living together,” Bill protested.

            “That was almost, now it is.” Dipper reasoned with him.

            “That’s actually the strangest reasoning I have ever heard,” the demon sniffed at his boyfriend.

            “Oh my god, just get ready to go to bed, Bill.”

            Though grumbling, Bill complied. He quickly got changed into a set of warm, blue flannels and climbed into bed, waiting for Dipper to switch off the light.

            Dipper turned around and saw a gold light coming from his bed. Curious, he went over to check out what it was. He knew it was probably going to be the demon he had gotten ever so close with, but what of the demon was it? Climbing under the covers, he discovered that it was Bill’s freckles that were emitting the dim golden light. Unable to constrain himself, he leaned forwards and kissed the freckles on the blond’s nose.

            At the gesture, Bill let out a soft chuckle and tilted his head down to capture the brunet’s lips in a kiss. The two sat there for a bit, giving each other light pecks on the lips, cheeks and nose. The thought of the battle they were going to have to fight were forgotten in favor of each other’s company.

            It was cold in Dipper’s room, and the human had not thought of that fact when he got changed for the night. A chill ran through the room from the window’s shaky frame, making him shiver and press closer to the demon who was so warm in that moment. They were pressed flush against each other now, and were simply holding each other in their arms. Dipper believed that he could get used to this, that this could be a new routine.

            “You need to sleep, Pine Tree,” Bill murmured against the top of his head, “That’s the whole reason that we came up here in the first place.”

            “But I can’t, that’s the problem.” Dipper countered, burying his nose into the taller man’s collar. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t sleep without getting my ideas out of my mind, and even then it’s hard sometimes.”

            “I can help you get to sleep, you know.” Bill replied, “Just a bit of magic and you’ll be out like a light until your alarm in the morning.”

            Dipper contemplated this for a bit, humming slightly without thinking. “How often would you be able to do that?” he asked quietly.

            “Every night if you need me to.”

            The brunet was silent for another few minutes, thinking this over. What if Bill wasn’t there one night and he reverted back to his insomnia? What if Bill was away for a while because of the demons that were going against him? There were a lot of things to factor in and think about, but most of them didn’t get processed, for Dipper was already nodding off into a magically induced sleep.

            Bill waited until Dipper was fully asleep before taking the spell away. Once asleep, the human shouldn’t wake up for another while naturally, or until his alarm went off if otherwise. Bill knew that Dipper’s mind had been rattling with different possible things that could go wrong with this, but the entire point of the spell was to make sure he didn’t have to think of things going wrong.

            With his job done, and the human feeling of exhaustion weighing on him, Bill found himself falling asleep rather quickly, the last thing on his mind being to protect Dipper at all costs, even against himself, if it came to it. For Bill wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure that Dipper Pines was fully human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, Chapter 8! If you all hadn't noticed, I no longer have a set in stone update schedule, though I do want to fix that after exams are over in a couple weeks. I'll try to get chapters up as soon as I finish them since I don't have a beta.
> 
> Actually, that brings me to my next topic, beta reader(s). I honestly have no idea how that all works, but I would like to know if any of you would be up to being a beta, even though I doubt most of you read these end notes. I would say who you are on whatever site you contact me on in the end notes, with the site that the url/@/whatever is from.
> 
> Also, last thing to note, most people use the other weird demons from Bill's gang, but no I had to go and create one because I didn't want to look up their names and all that. Ruby is a drakon, and I will explain more about the differences in the next few chapters as she appears more. (Do not love her please she is a total bitch and I wont even tell you the horrid things I have plans for her to do).


	9. New Views

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of NSFW later on in the chapter, but I kind of... was given a dumbass idea from my sister that caused the end of the chapter, and the slight porn. I didn't actually finish the porn scene so the rating isn't going up.

            It was a dreary day. Not many customers came to the newly reopened Mystery Shack because of the wet and soggy weather, and the three people living in there were beginning to see just how many repairs the old house actually needed. In the attic, Dipper had set out a few pails to catch water dripping in from his ceiling. Bill offered to fix everything up with magic, but the twins refused, though it was slightly reluctant. They knew that their Grunkle would disapprove of them being friends with a demon, let alone letting said demon mess with the Shack with magic.

            Bill had been continuing to put Dipper to sleep with magic for the last week or so, and the brunet didn’t seem to have any problems with it. Well, except for if it cut him off mid-thought or sentence; which is something Bill had a bad tendency of doing.

            Dipper had been slowly going down a slippery slope into a depressive state he hadn’t been in for a long time, and it wasn’t going unnoticed. The weather was not helping him at all, and he repeatedly attempted to go hide away in the leaky attic, each time being dragged back by a persistent Mabel.

            Bill noted how he was acting, and how the curious and creative light that was in his eyes was dimming each time he was asked if he was okay. Dipper was trying to distance himself from something, Bill thought, and if he kept doing this, it wasn’t going to end well for anyone. The demon thought about calling his brother to help with the situation, but he didn’t want to interrupt Will’s own planning and counter attack.

            In an attempt to cheer the Pines man up, Bill set out into the forest to search for a specimen of plant that he knew he didn’t have noted down yet.

            The demon was gone most of the day, trudging through underbrush wet with rain and melting snow. At least it was warm enough to go outside without a coat, even if it was almost January. Bill walked to the deepest parts of the forest, searching out one specific plant that only the creatures that lived this far back and him knew about.

            He made it to the densest part of the forest, where no snow had even touched the ground he walked on because of how close together the trees were. It was a miracle the rain was getting through even at the small, slow drip it was. This part of the forest tended to rely on magic from demons and the creatures living there, instead of water and sunlight like the rest of it. There was so many powerful plants, creatures and magic lying back here, and Bill had to admit that he missed venturing back to the depths and talking to the woodland creatures that resided there.

            Once he got to his destination, a small cabin at the edge of the forest, right near the mountain cliffs, he let out a sigh. This place brought back a lot of memories to him, but all of them could be put aside for the moment. Maybe someday he would take Dipper to this cabin and tell him the stories about what had happened there so many centuries ago. Shaking his head to clear it, he walked on, entering the quaint abode.

            Inside looked just as it had when he and Will had left it, thanks to the preservation spell they had used on it. The wallpaper was still bright and flowery, with a slight layer of irremovable dust it seemed. The over-stuffed couch and chair were still sagging with years of wear, and the springs still poked through in the corner of the couch. The springs were thanks to Bill and Will jumping around on it for most of their childhood. A wooden rocking chair had the beginnings of a knit scarf hanging off one of the arms, and through the doorway, a wooden table sat with a vase of drying petunias and other plants the Cipher twins had picked.

            Walking through the doorway into the kitchen, Bill had to supress a laugh. He remembered running through the kitchen with the wooden toys their father had made for them, getting a scolding from their mother who was cooking dinner on their gas stove. The stove was still in its pristine condition that their mother had kept it in, though the rest of the kitchen had some dust on the surfaces. Bill waved his hand and the dust all disappeared, returning the room to the state his mother always kept it in.

            There was a set of stairs going to an upper level near the back door, and Bill climbed it. At the top of the stairs was a hallway with two doors. One on the right and one on the left, opposite of each other. He decided to take a peek into the one on the right.

            A large bed was stationed in the middle of the far wall, its thick quilts looking just as warm and inviting as they did when he was a child suffering from nightmares. There were two bedside tables, one on each side of the bed, and a trunk at the end nearest to the door. Two wardrobes graced each side of the room. Bill went over to the one on the right, finding it filled with handmade dresses and skirts, a few nice blouses folded at the bottom. His mother’s skill with a needle and thread had always amazed him, and now he was amazed by another’s skill. Mabel was as good with fabric and thread as his mother had been, possibly even better. He went and looked into his father’s wardrobe and found it full of different suits, also made by his mother.

            Closing both wardrobes, he went to the room across the hall. There was a set of bunkbeds against the wall on the far left. A wooden toy trunk was tucked on the opposite side of the room of the beds. In the middle of the room, there was a beautiful crocheted rug, one of the few things they had spent a lot of money on in the house. Thick curtains covered a dusty window. Bill decided that the room was too dark for his current liking and with a wave of his hand, opened the curtains and cleaned the windows simultaneously.

            This was his room, he thought. When he was young, he and Will would spend so much time playing here; their parents would have to almost physically drag them downstairs for meals. At this point, he didn’t bother supressing his urge to laugh. He let out a laugh that was so genuine, it almost hurt him. So many amazing memories were in this house, and he missed it all so much. Touching his eyes, Bill realized that he was crying. Instead of getting mad at himself though, he smiled. Yes, he was a demon, but he wasn’t heartless. He still felt things, he still had emotions. He wasn’t going to punish himself for feeling anymore because he turned from a human into a demon; he wasn’t born that way. Most turned demons would, and do, see emotions as a weakness instead of a strength. Bill wasn’t going to let himself be like that anymore.

            He sat there for a while, just smiling and letting the tears roll down his cheeks. He wasn’t sure what made him feel this way about emotions all of a sudden, but he was glad about it. This meant he could finally stop beating himself up for loving his soulmate as much as he did. It meant he could stop beating himself up over feeling sad, and feeling happy, and feeling other emotions that demons looked down upon. In reality, he realized that most demons only saw anger, rage or other harmful feelings as positive, and even then, it had to be blindly felt, not felt for a reason. He sniffled and wiped his nose on his coat sleeve, not caring about how he was dirtying it for once.

            Still crying and smiling, he made his way back down to the kitchen, and out to the back garden. There in the dirt was a beautiful blue flower, almost ready to bloom. He went inside quickly to grab a plant pot, and brought it back, transplanting the precious flower with a wave of his hand. Carefully, he brought the plant back in, going upstairs and to his old room, placing the pot on the windowsill while he went to his own wardrobe that was against the wall with the door.

            He opened the doors to find it just as he had left it at the age of eighteen. There were a few white dress shirts that were probably a size too small on him now, and folded nicely at the bottom were a few brightly coloured knit vests and sweaters that his mother had made him. Taking off his fancy coat and vest, he picked up one of the sweaters and pulled it over his head. It fit him even better than it had originally. He had grown into the shoulders, and the length of the sleeves no longer fully covered his hands. Looking down to see the design on it, he discovered that there was a picture of a closed eye knitted into the bright yellow fabric. Checking the other sweaters and vests, he discovered that only the blue and yellow ones had eyes on them. One with a closed eye and one with an open one for each of the two colours in both vest and sweater form, eight eyed tops in all.

            He picked up the stack of sweaters and vests and wrapped them up in his jacket, keeping his black vest in the pile of knits. Grabbing the potted flower, he placed it on his pile and left the cottage, shooting one last glance behind him before disappearing into the dense wall of trees.

            When he got back, Mabel and Dipper were running up to him, both looking furious.

            “Where have you been?!” Mabel all but screamed at him. “We were looking for you everywhere! We thought that Tad had gotten you!”

            Bill rolled his eyes, smiling at the Pines twins. They were so much like he and Will. “Please, Tad couldn’t catch me if he sent an army after me,” he scoffed. “Anyways, I was at my old house.”

            “What?” Dipper asked, suddenly confused, “You lived in Gravity Falls?”

            The demon nodded, “I most certainly did. A small cabin at the base of the mountain, in the deepest part of the forest.”

            This certainly caught Dipper’s attention, whereas Mabel pouted and glared at the blond. “You could have at least told us where you were going _before_ you left.” She mumbled.

            “Sorry Shooting Star,” Bill chuckled, “I needed to go there alone today. There were a few things I wanted to grab.”

            “Like that sweater you’re wearing, and the plant you’re holding?” Dipper questioned, curiosity still held by the information he was being given.

            “Like those.”

            Bill was smiling down at the twins, while he received two very different expressions directed at him. Mabel was still glaring angrily at him, while Dipper was staring at the flower in his hands with a hungry curiosity. After about a minute of being stared down, Mabel sighed and said, “Well I’m glad you’re okay. We’re ordering pizza tonight by the way, so go do whatever until it gets here.”

            “Does that include fixing your roof?” Bill asked, genuinely wondering if he was allowed to.

            The Pines woman let out a defeated sigh, “Yes, you can fix the broken bits of the Shack up with magic. We need it repaired and hiring someone would cost too much.”

            Tucking his pile under one of his arms, Bill used his free hand and swiped it through the air, immediately feeling the Shack become more secure and a bit warmer. “There, now come on Pine Tree, I want to show you something.” He said, beginning to walk to the attic, expecting Dipper to follow him.

            Once upstairs, he set his pile down on the bed. Picking up the delicate flower, he gently placed the pot on Dipper’s desk and stood back while the brunet began to examine it closely.

            “What is it?” Dipper asked, squinting at the closed petals. “And when will it bloom?”

            “It’s called a Desert Smoke flower,” Bill explained, “This type of flower only blooms at night. When it blooms it emits a blue glow. If harvested when in bloom, it can make a potion that can aid in healing, which is probably something you’ll need if you keep going at the rate you are with your magic.”

            “And by that you mean…?” Dipper looked over at Bill in confusion.

            “You’re going to run yourself dry of magic if you keep using as much as you have been,” Bill commented dryly, though it wasn’t necessarily true.

            It seemed to the demon that Dipper Pines had an infinite supply of magic. No matter how much he used his powers in the last week, his magic didn’t seem to be dwindling at all. He was like a bottomless well, and no matter how much water was taken out, more came flowing in to replace it right away. This shouldn’t have been possible for a human, or any other creature than a demon, actually. A few theories came to Bill’s mind, but he brushed them aside for the moment.

            “Plus you’re absolutely useless when it comes to physical fights, and you’d get yourself killed in any sort of trap.” He added on when Dipper didn’t respond.

            “That’s your opinion. If I tried to fight you, I probably would win,” Dipper said, his attention still on the Desert Smoke.

            “Okay, think of who you’re talking to Pine Tree,” Bill deadpanned, “I’m an all-powerful demon. You wouldn’t last two seconds against me.”

            The Pines man scoffed. “You’re such a liar. I’ve seen you; you have spaghetti arms, Cipher.”

            Bill sat there and just stared at Dipper for a minute. Did he really think that he could beat him? The demon let out a sinister chuckle. Oh this was going to be hilarious if the Pines man actually tried to fight him. He could toy with the brunet and leave him breathless without even breaking a sweat. In fact, the idea made him a bit giddy. Being able to mess with the brunet and get close to him at the same time, knowing that it was all in good humor brought a feeling to Bill that he hadn’t felt before, and therefore couldn’t identify. He didn’t want to tell Dipper about his thoughts, but he knew that the human would be able to identify exactly what Bill was feeling.

            “The expression on your face is making me worried. What are you planning?” Dipper asked, snapping Bill from his thoughts.

            Bill realized that he had been smirking, and with Dipper noticing it, his smirk grew even wider. He hadn’t made this expression since he had tricked and coerced people into doing what he wanted. Actually, it had been a few years since he had gotten his sick and twisted smirk. The last time he had done this was when… well, he didn’t like to think of what he had actually done in the final battle to Dipper. In fact, he didn’t like the memory to exist anywhere but the furthest depths of his own mind, so he had changed the memory in the minds of anyone who had been there to witness just how cruel he actually was, which of course meant that Dipper himself didn’t even remember the true events of that day. He believed he was playing his bluff well enough, working with the memory that he had planted in the Pines man’s head.

            “I could be planning ultimate destruction… again,” Bill commented offhandedly.

            “…Or?” Dipper asked, picking up the plant and carrying it to the now fixed windowsill.

            “Why do you assume that there’s an ‘or’?”

            “Because currently we’re fighting against ultimate destruction and it’s not you who’s planning it as far as we all know.”

            “Fine. Or I had another twisted thought that I was probably planning on acting out,” Bill sighed.

            “And that twisted thought would be?” Dipper asked nervously.

            “Actually fighting you in a non-magic fight,” Bill replied bluntly.

            “Do you really want to fight me?” the Pines man now seemed genuinely curious about Cipher’s thoughts.

            It was getting hard for Bill to stop himself from going slightly dark. He had been itching to get into a scrap for a while, and he wanted to fight Dipper in good fun, but something told him that if he did fight, he would end up hurting Dipper. On the other hand though, something else told him that he would be able to hold back just enough to keep it at least non-fatal.

            “Well, we never have fought really before, and it would all be in good fun…” Bill trailed off, his beginning plan popping back into his mind.

            Dipper stopped for a minute, contemplating this. It seemed that he couldn’t find anything too bad with the prospect for he shrugged and commented, “We just can’t let Mabel find out. She’ll think we’re actually fighting.”

            Bill perked up a bit, mischief flashing momentarily in his mismatched eyes. Moving so fast that Dipper wouldn’t have been able to follow him even if he was watching, Bill moved and grabbed a hold of Dipper, grabbing his arm and holding it to his back.

            “Holy-! How did you do that?” Dipper choked out, his mind moving a bit slowly in the moment.

            “All-powerful dream demon, kid,” Bill cooed, a small chuckle hidden in his words.

            From there on, it was a full-on wrestling matched mixed with some sort of marital arts. Kicks, punches and jabs were thrown, and at times they were tussling on the floor, switching who had who in a headlock each time. At some point or another, magic began to be used. Sparks flew between the two; cerulean and gold respectively. It was when Dipper let out a yelp that Bill froze dead in his tracks, fear filling his eyes.

            The brunet was hunched over, cerulean sparks from Bill’s magic still going off in an after-effect. His breathing seemed irregular, but from what Bill could see, there was no blood. The demon slowly walked forwards, concern gracing his features, in order to not startle the Pines man. He didn’t want to scare him or something, and he tried to tell himself that that was the reason he was moving slowly, but in reality it was because if Dipper was mad and lashed out, he didn’t want to be that close to so much magic, especially if it was being tossed at him quickly and furiously.

            “Dipper? Is everything okay?” the blond cautiously asked.

            It didn’t seem that Dipper was ready to attack Bill at this point, so the blond risked going up to him and resting a hand on his back. At this Dipper turned around, head still down and wrapped his arms around Bill, now hiding his face in the demon’s chest. He didn’t get too close, which confused the blond, but he didn’t question it too much. Suddenly, the demon was lying on the floor, all the breath knocked out of him. Standing above him was Dipper, arms crossed and a smug little smirk on his face. If he was out of breath before, it was nothing compared to now.

            Bill gave Dipper a small deceptive smile. “Good job Pine Tree,” he purred. “But do you have stamina?”

            Dipper looked confused for a moment before picking up on the tone of Bill’s voice and blushing slightly. What Bill was implying flustered him, but he refused to let it show. He was going to show the demon just who was in charge here.

            “Pine Tree? What’s with that look?” Bill asked nervously.

            The expression that the brunet was giving him was almost predatory. There was a light in his eyes that Bill had never seen before, and frankly, it made him nervous as hell. He thought that he had seen every emotion and expression the Pines man had, and seeing a new one, especially one like this, was shaking. Not only was he shaken up by this, he was slightly… aroused by the look he was being given. Why the hell was that?

            That was when Dipper sank down to his knees, now straddling Bill’s waist. The demon’s mouth was dry and his eyes wide in a mixture of fear and excitement. The brunet’s hands went to Bill’s collar where his bowtie and shirt collar were blocking off his neck, and the knit vest made it hard to get the shirt off.

            “Take your sweater off,” Dipper ordered, sending a slight shiver down the blond’s spine.

            Bill quickly complied with his partner’s demands, grabbing the bottom of his sweater, lifting his back off the floor a bit to make it easier for him, and pulled it off, showing the thin, pure white dress shirt underneath. Dipper then reached down and undid the black bowtie that graced Bill’s thin neck. All that was left covering the demon’s torso was the shirt, and the Pines man took his time getting that off; undoing the buttons slowly, toying with each a bit before popping it open. Bill had never felt more exposed than this, but hell was he enjoying it.

            Dipper pushed the shirt off the blond’s shoulders before running his hands lightly over Bill’s chest, keeping his fingers spread in order to cover as much area as possible. He was kind of surprised at how soft the demon’s skin was. He had only ever felt the rough calluses of his hands and never skin that rarely saw anything more than a rare flash of artificial light when he was getting changed. The brunet looked at Bill’s face, finding a sight that he enjoyed. Bill’s eyes were fluttering shut and his mouth was hanging open a bit, his tongue occasionally darting out to wet his lips.

            The Pines man leant down and captured the demon’s lips with his own, receiving a small gasp and then moan in return. Bill’s mind became blank as Dipper’s mouth moved against his own, their tongues slick against each other. Dipper was doing something with his chin that made their mouth slot together just right, and it was driving Cipher crazy. He let out a whine that was muffled by the kiss, and the Pines man smirked against his lips.

            The next thing Bill knew was that he was now being pressed hard into the bed, his legs hanging off the edge. Dipper was above him, holding his wrists down above his head with one hand. The other hand was trailing down Bill’s stomach to his waistline, brushing against the edge of his jeans. He shifted his hips a bit, trying to get the brunet to go faster, but to no avail. If anything, it made Dipper slow down.

            The blond underneath Dipper let out a whine again as the sick game continued. It went on for who knows how long. The two were panting and at some point of another, Dipper had let go of Bill’s wrists in favour of tugging at his blond locks. Their mouths were pressed against each other’s in a heated fervor.

            Then, the door suddenly burst open, revealing a Mabel dressed up in 90’s style workout clothes and singing the Ghostbusters theme. The two men on the floor jumped away from each other, they weren’t sure there wasn’t any teleportation involved, particularly on Bill’s part. How the demon went from being pinned on the bed to standing on the other side of the room, was beyond Dipper. Either way, both of them were red faced and being given a knowing smirk.

            “What, did I interrupt you two or something?” Mabel asked with an evil chuckle, “Because if I did, I’d have to kill the demon in the room for defiling my brother.”

            It was Bill’s turn to laugh. “If anything sweetheart, he was doing the defiling, not me,” the demon said offhandedly, earning a strangled shriek from Dipper and an amazed look from Mabel.

            “Really? I always thought that I would be Bill who was top, if anything. I also thought that if I burst in like that I would have caught the two of you in the middle of the deed,” she said, eyebrows raised.

            “Come on Mabel…” Dipper said nervously.

            At this, Bill scoffed, the red in his cheeks fading completely. “Yes, come on Shooting Star, you really think that I’d actually mate with a human?” he asked, laughing like the idea was hilarious to him. “I mean really, why you would think I would actually do that!?” He burst into laughter at this, the concept being completely ridiculous in his eyes.

            “Wait… what?” Dipper asked, looking confused. “You were just leading me on?”

            Realizing what he had said, he froze. Hell, he never meant it like that, but he couldn’t just completely take back what he said. He also couldn’t hesitate that long or-

            “You were…” Dipper looked hurt now, a look of betrayal evident in his eyes, “Have you just been leading me on this entire time? All of this, has it just been a game to you?”

            “No! Oh my god, Pine Tree, no it hasn’t,” Bill jumped at a chance to redeem himself at least a little bit, “I really do care, please trust me on that. I just…” he trailed off, unsure how to explain just how he felt about sex. Yes, he was a rather sexual dancer, but that didn’t mean he actually wanted to have it. In fact, he felt… disgusted at the thought of it, if he was being honest. Before he could explain that he generally didn’t like the thought of intercourse with anyone, Dipper sighed at him.

            “You just? What, you just don’t like caring because ‘emotions are a weakness’?” the Pines man said, getting a bit hysterical, Bill swearing at himself for not speaking faster, “Come on, Bill, I know what you are. You’re a demon, and I should have known it would be like this from the start. You told me you thought emotions were a weakness once, so why would it change now?” Dipper had turned his back on Bill and was now facing the window. “I know you can’t leave the shack because of safety reasons and all that, but I don’t think I want to see your face much more…”

            Bill opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to get the words out, but it just wouldn’t work. He gave up, his shoulders drooping and mouth closing. Oh how a stupid misunderstanding could end so badly. “Alright, I get it…” he mumbled, feeling on the verge of tears. With that, he took off out the door, running out of the Shack and into the forest where the rain had changed to thick, heavy snow that broke through the trees all the way to his old cabin.

            When he closed the door behind him, he sunk to the floor, hiding his face in his hands and began to cry a bit. Maybe his previous views on emotions were right. They just got in the way, and got you hurt in the end, no matter what. Maybe if he went and acted how Dipper thought he was, it would end without him getting hurt anymore.

            When he had finally exhausted himself, he trudged through the kitchen, up the stairs and to his old room, only to find a surprise. Standing by the window he had cleaned earlier in the day was Will.

            The blue-haired Cipher turned around at the noise of the door opening, and smiled before noticing the state the blond before him was in. His eyes were tinged red from crying and his freckles were glowing the same colour as Will’s own hair. There were tear tracks on Bill’s face and his hair was dishevelled, with twigs and leaves sticking up in various places.

            “Oh my god, what happened, Bill?!” Will cried out, rushing over to his twin, beginning to try to clean him up a bit.

            His twin sniffled before muttering “Emotions are a pain and just get in the way…”

            This concerned Will. It had been years since Bill had this view on feelings, and it was caused by a broken heart. Oh no, if he was like this…

            “What happened between you and Pines?” Will asked, grabbing his shoulders.

            Bill shook his head, indicating he wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. Instead of speaking, he snapped his fingers, a pile of clothes appearing on one of the bunks and his own clothing changing into a pair of yellow pyjamas with blue flames on them.

            Will let out a sigh. “Yeah,” he muttered, “Let’s just go to bed…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the arc of suffering motherfuckers


	10. Rifts Formed, Sanity Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, folks. This chapter is just a taste of how dark things are going to get.

            Dipper had technically been right when he said that Bill couldn’t leave the shack exactly. He couldn’t leave _Gravity Falls_ , though everyone would be safest if he was at least somewhere on the property, which went up to the rock cliff where his old home was. Bill Cipher hadn’t been to the Mystery Shack for almost a full week, and as much as it was tearing him up inside, he did enjoy being back in his old home with Will.

            The only reason that Will was able to leave the new home of the Northwests’ in Nebraska was because it seemed that Tad was only focusing on Oregon at the moment, and they all felt that Nebraska was far enough out of the way of his field of impact to be relatively safe for the moment. Either way, Will was now living in Oregon with his twin in their childhood home.

            Neither of the Pines twins knew where the cabin was, so there was no risk of being explicitly found without having at least a ten minute warning, giving the Ciphers time to get out of the house and away from the other set of twins.

            Bill had been a bit… unstable in the last few days. His golden eyes occasionally flickering with images, or the sclera going dark as night. Sometimes his magic would act up by itself, and he couldn’t put it out. It was worrying to see him like this. The last time Bill had been this unstable was a few centuries ago, when he was at the height of his power and on the brink of true insanity. At this point, if Will didn’t keep a close enough eye on his brother, he could end up turning for the worst; becoming a force that nobody could defeat, all of his endless power at its most dangerous usage.

            It was nearing dinner time, and Will hadn’t seen his brother at all that day. Bill had told him that he was going out into the forest to talk with the animals and various other creatures that lived there, but this was an awfully long time for him to be gone… he couldn’t help but worry where Bill had gotten off to.

            Meanwhile, at the Mystery Shack, Mabel had been trying to get her brother’s state of mind to go back to a semi-stable state to no avail.

            Dipper Pines had locked himself in his room for the five days, and had only just begun to let his sister in the day before. There were terrible things rising up from the deepest parts of his mind, and he wasn’t fully certain that he was making them up.

            Visions of flames of different colours surrounding the Shack, one seeking to destroy, the other seeking to stop the destruction. He wouldn’t have thought much of all of this if it wasn’t paired by Bill Cipher’s maniacal, devilish cackling filling the air, creating a weight that crushed Dipper’s lungs; if it wasn’t the azure flames he had begun to associate with gentleness and faith that was seeking to ruin him, to destroy his home and break his life force apart; if there wasn’t a reek of burning flesh and metallic blood all around him, strong enough that he almost vomited. None of this would have meant anything if it wasn’t Bill Cipher tearing the world around him to shreds. None of it would have meant anything if it didn’t back up his thought that Bill had been putting on a sane act for his own benefit.

            It also wouldn’t have meant anything if Bill Cipher himself hadn’t been showing up in his dreams, dragging him to the Mindscape and showing him gruesome images of centuries past, possibly even millennia past. It wouldn’t have meant anything if Bill Cipher hadn’t showed up the day after he started letting the outside world in again.

            Outside of Dipper’s window, after Mabel had gone downstairs to make dinner, a familiar face was seen, it’s features marred by blood and a sadistic, psychopathic, insane grin. The worst part of all this was that Dipper wasn’t able to stop Bill from being near him, no matter what he did, for Bill Cipher was an all-powerful dream demon who could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted because no wards or amount of preparation could even make a dent in his abilities. So when the blond man went from one side of the red glass to the other in the blink of an eye, Dipper had to be as ready as he could for the worst-case scenario.

            “Well, well, well,” cooed the demon, his sick grin showing off extremely sharp canines and mildly pointed incisors, “What have we here? A little Pine Tree too nervous to even step into the outside world? Oh like secluding yourself will help with any of this. If anything, you’re just making it easier for me to get to you!”

            Dipper was stunned silent. The man floating in the air before him had the body and voice of Bill Cipher, but his facial features had begun to warp. His previously golden eyes were red with a pitch-black sclera. A forked tongue flicked out to wet his lips occasionally, and his grin got wider every second Dipper looked on in fear. A set of three glowing yellow triangles had appeared beneath Bill’s left eye, something that was probably due to the immense magic energy rolling off of the demon at the moment.

            “W-why are you here?” Dipper eventually managed to stutter out, “W-what do you want with me now?”

            Bill let out a warped, echoing laugh. “Why, little tree, if I told you that, my game wouldn’t be able to continue!” he chuckled gleefully, his voice’s pitch splitting into its usual high tone, and a deep demonic tone that had Dipper’s veins freezing solid.

            What the hell was going on? Dipper was about to ask what Bill was talking about before the demon disappeared, not even his magical energy leaving a print to show that he had ever been there.

            His hands shaking, he fumbled for his phone, scrolling through the contacts until he saw Will’s name. He hit call the moment the screen loaded after clicking the name.

            It rang once. Twice. “Hello? Dipper? What’s going on?” a light voice asked, the sound of something boiling in the background.

            “I-it’s Bill,” he started, but before he could continue, Will cut him off.

            “What do you mean it’s Bill? What happened, why do you sound so shaky?” Will asked, his tone getting serious.

            Dipper hesitated for a moment before blurting out: “I think he’s completely lost it. He was just here, and he looked weird. Like scary weird. His teeth were sharp, he had a forked tongue and…” he stopped for a moment, the memory of Bill’s eyes making him even more unnerved, “his eyes.”

            “What about his eyes?” the background noise was all suddenly shut off, only Will’s voice coming through.

            “Will, they were black, at least the sclera were, the pupils were blood red.” Dipper said quietly.

            There was an audible gulp from the other end of the line. “Dipper, I-I have to call you back. He’s home.” Will whispered before hanging up, the line going dead.

▲▼▲

            Will stood at the stove nervously, resuming in his preparation of dinner. He had heard the front door open just as Dipper had described what Bill’s eyes looked like, and he was pretty sure that Bill had been listening in on the entire conversation. This was bad. If Bill was sneaking off to do things like this, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to let his twin leave the cabin without supervision. The problem was, he couldn’t stop Bill from doing whatever he wanted because, though they were about equal in power, Will was the younger twin which meant that he was to be the follower, not the leader.

            “Hey, Will, I’m home,” the blond twin called out, “I don’t think you’d want me to come into the kitchen though.”

            Will gulped. He felt like he knew why, but he really wanted to be proved wrong. “Why is that? What did you do, roll in a mud puddle?” he asked, trying to sound as naïve about the situation as he could.

            “Nope. Was doing a bit of… pest control around the forest.” Bill replied cautiously, “Got some of the blood on my outfit, and I don’t think you’d appreciate that in your kitchen.”

            “How much is ‘some’, Bill?” Will sighed. Why hadn’t Dipper mentioned the blood? It would have been a rather nice detail to know. “Unless you’re dripping, you can come in, just don’t touch anything.”

            When he heard the uneven footsteps get closer, he turned around and almost screamed at what he saw. The creature that Dipper had described wasn’t there, but Bill was swaying, covered in blood, with an insane look in his eyes. Instead of letting his instincts get the better of him, he just sighed.

            “What’s the matter?” Bill asked, his expression not changing what-so-ever.

            “Just… you right now,” is all Will said, “You’re a total wreck you know that? You haven’t been like this in a long time, Bill.”

            Bill let out a carefree laugh, “I know, but it’s exhilarating, not having an ounce of sanity left. It makes things unpredictable, fun even.”

            Will knew at this point that it was useless to argue with his twin; the blond wasn’t listening properly, and even if he was, it wouldn’t make a difference with his mind being as scattered as it was. The blue-haired Cipher just turned around and continued to work on their meal.

            A few hours later, Bill had wandered off to bed, leaving Will free to do what he wanted without question. The demon took full advantage of the situation and went straight to the Mystery Shack, praying that one of the twins, preferably Dipper, was awake.

            Once at the rickety old building, he knocked quietly on the back door. He knew the front Gift Shop would be closed at this late hour, and either way, this was more direct; closer to both of the Pines twins’ rooms. He waited at the door for almost a full five minutes before a tired face with a mop of messy brown hair appeared in the window. Another thirty seconds or so Dipper struggled with the lock before he actually opened the door.

            “Hey there, Nerd,” Will said with a grin as he stepped into the Shack.

            “Why are you here?” is the only thing that flew from the Pines man’s mouth.

            Will let out a light chuckle at the response. “Well, I think you didn’t have a chance to finish what you were telling me on the phone, so I decided to come over to finish that conversation.”

            Now more awake, Dipper questioned, “But why come here? Why not just call me?”

            “Because my brother is asleep and I didn’t want to wake him up with a phone call in the house. He can sense the radio waves and it agitates him enough to wake up if he’s actually sleeping for once.” Will said, getting slightly bugged, “Now can we please go somewhere where there isn’t a risk of your sister hearing all of this?”

            It was Dipper’s turn to be amused at what was being said. “You think a place like that exists in this building? Let me get into proper clothes and we can go to Greasy’s to talk. No one there will care about what we’re saying, especially at this hour.”

            Will nodded and waved his hand to indicate Dipper should go, but the brunet wasn’t having it. “Come on, you’re covered in mud and various plant matter, you can’t go into town like that. At least not when everyone thinks you’re on the same wealth level as the Northwests, like most of the town thinks you are.”

            The brunet grabbed his wrist and dragged him up the stairs and to the attic room. Will was surprised to find the place quite cozy looking. He thought that the man’s room would look to be a mess since he probably hadn’t left it since the incident about a week ago, but he was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there was a sizable pile of clothes on the floor, and a few food wrappers here and there along with an empty water bottle or two, but otherwise it seemed pretty neat. In fact, it looked like an average teenager’s room, though Dipper might get a bit insulted if he said that out loud, so he kept his mouth shut.

            Suddenly, a few articles of clothing hit him in the face. Catching them in his arms Will looked at Dipper, confused.

            “Put them on,” he said, “They’ll probably fit you, and they aren’t anything exactly the fanciest things, but hey, it’s late and I don’t think you want to wear dress pants to a diner anyways.”

            Will sat there stunned still as Dipper began to undress right in front of him. Either the man didn’t care, or this was some sort of backwards way at getting revenge on Bill. When the brunet caught a glance of Will not changing, he made a face that said ‘Well? Do I have to do it for you?’

            That was enough to get Will changing into the fresh clothes without much complaint. They fit well enough, he guessed. The jeans were a bit tight on his thighs, but that wasn’t a big deal really, also the shirt sleeves were a bit short, but that was easily fixed by undoing the buttons and rolling them up to his elbows. He had seen this shirt before, actually… Oh god, if Bill found out he had been wearing Dipper’s favourite flannel, he was going to be a dead man.

            Once changed, Dipper led Will back to the door, closing and locking it behind them as they began the walk to the diner. They walked in silence the entire way, neither sure just what to say to the other. Once in town, Will began to look around a bit more. It had changed since he had last been there, and he didn’t think he exactly liked it. More than once he used his magic to get creeps away from girls walking down the road. With a few sweeps of his hand, he moved trash into the bins on the street corners and beside shops. There were people sitting against walls with thin blankets and worn cardboard signs asking for money or food, and the few people that walked by either ignore those against the walls, or gave them a dirty look, like they were looking at trash. The sight of it all hurt Will’s heart. At one point in time, humans cared for one another. They watched over each other and helped each other out in hard times. One of the homeless people were sitting outside Greasy’s when they approached the diner, and Will paused to offer to buy them some food inside.

            After letting the person order whatever they wanted, and Will pre-paying the bill for them, he and Dipper took a seat in one of the booths near the windows.

            “Why’d you do that? You’re a demon, and not even most humans would do something like that.” Dipper seemed extremely confused at Will’s actions.

            “Listen here, Dipper,” he began, “everywhere I’ve looked this evening, I’ve seen lots and lots of humans, but not a shred of humanity.”

            That seemed to confuse the brunet even more than before, so Will kept going.

            “Just because you’re human doesn’t mean you’re humane. Just because you’re a demon doesn’t mean you’re demonic. It’s all about conscience. Some humans, most humans actually, have such a thin conscience, it’s almost non-existent. I myself can’t just sit by and watch while people get assaulted for no reason, or go hungry because of something that happened to them at once point that left them out on the streets. It kills me inside to see it, so I feel the need to do something about it, even if it’s temporary, because I know what it’s like to be an outcast and frowned upon for things you can’t help. That is empathy. Empathy is the ability to put yourself into someone else’s shoes and imagine how it must feel to be in that position. It’s pretty much understanding how something feels, and just why someone would react the way they do. Most humans lack that as well nowadays…”

            A look of realization dawned upon Dipper’s face. “It’s a thin line; a concept. It’s like trying to fit things into loose concepts. It can’t be done, so why try. If you can’t define something why try to put things into it as a category.”

            Will nodded. The kid got it, that’s good. The way he was speaking though… it was almost like he had heard the same thing Will had just said from someone else. The Cipher twin let out a light chuckle at the thought of his twin giving Dipper the humanity speech.

            “-there’s humans everywhere but no humanity.” The brunet had been speaking while Will was spaced out.

            The demon looked over at the man sitting across from him. He nodded silently, unsure how to respond to what he heard. It was true, what Dipper had said, however sad the fact was.

            “But I take it you didn’t want to spend time with me to talk about how shitty the human race is,” the Pines man commented offhandedly while waving at Lazy Susan, indicating they were ready to order something. Will picked up the menu and filed through it, deciding on something quick and light.

            “No, you’re right about that,” he said, putting the flimsy paper down on the table, “It’s about Bill. Not just about what happened earlier today but also about your current situation with him in general.”

            Dipper was about to respond when Lazy Susan made it over to the table. “How are you boys tonight? What can I get for you?”

            They told her their orders; Dipper getting a coffee and plate of toast, and Will getting an iced tea and some biscuits. As she walked away, their conversation became hushed.

            “What do you mean by ‘my current situation in general’?” Dipper whispered, leaning over the table a bit.

            Will leaned onto his elbows, “How you and Bill are getting along, and just what exactly he meant when the two of you first got into this fight.”

            “Now _that_ is something I don’t want to talk about in public,” Dipper said blankly, rolling his eyes, “If we’re going to talk about that we can do it back at my place.”

            Will nodded, understanding where Dipper was coming from. It was a private, well mostly private, topic and it probably would be better to talk about it when alone than surrounded by gossip-greedy ears.

            “Anyways, about earlier today, that was actually the most demonic I think I’ve ever seen him.” Dipper continued, “I say think because I’ve been getting these… memories of horrible occurrences. I really hate them, if I’m being honest.”

            “Why do you say they’re memories though?” Will asked as their orders were placed on the table before them.

            “I don’t know for sure if they’re actually memories, but they don’t feel like I imagined them. I feel like I really have seen them happen at some point in time,” Dipper explained, taking a sip of his scalding coffee.

            “That may be Bill messing with your mind, you know that right?” Will speculated, “I mean, it is possible that they are some of the most repressed memories that were hidden away when you got really bad, but those would be under the tightest seal that Bill couldn’t break without my help. And there’s no way that I’m helping him let you remember those horrid events.”

            The two sat in a comfortable silence as they both thought about it. Dipper eventually broke the silence with the voicing of a theory.

            “What if I was unlocking it myself without knowing?” he guessed, “I mean, Bill said it himself, I’ve got really powerful magic. What if I’m using it subconsciously and picking at the lock you two put on those memories, drawing the beginnings of them to the surface of my mind?”

            “That’s a possibility, but you’ve got to take into account at how inexperienced you are with magic and that if two centuries old demons need to work together to undo a spell on you, it’s probably impossible for you to do it yourself, especially if you’re not even trying,” Will said, contradicting Dipper’s statement with ease, though he did hate to admit the kid might have a point.

            “Yes, but Bill could be sensing that I’m messing with it somehow and picking at it too. Like, he could easily be screwing with it while my magic is doing its own thing, slowly opening the lock just enough for us not to think too much of it,” Dipper reasoned back. Damn this kid and his sharp mind.

            “Actually, that brings me back to earlier today. You gave me a good description of Bill, but you hadn’t told me that he was _covered in blood_. Particularly the blood of innocent animals, and possibly a few gnomes,” Will muttered a bit scathingly, though it was obvious the anger was to his twin and not Dipper.

            “I was more focused on the bits of him that seemed unusual to me,” Dipper commented, stirring his coffee.

            “The blood isn’t something unusual?” Will asked, looking worried.

            “Well, it wasn’t when we first met, so I guess seeing him covered in various creatures blood and sometimes holding an organ or two really wouldn’t shake me after years of it,” Dipper shrugged, getting an even more concerned look from the blue-haired Cipher twin.

            “Alright, did he say or do anything out of the ordinary, or at least out of… well, the ordinary I know?”

            At this, Dipper hesitated, “He… he did say something really strange.”

            Will just waited for the other man to continue.

            “He said that if he told me what he wanted with me, his game wouldn’t be able to continue, but his voice was really messed up.” The brunet mumbled, seemingly nervous that Bill was listening to him.

            “Dual tone?” Will asked, taking a bite out of a biscuit.

            Only a nod was given as a response, and Will sighed. They probably should get back to the Shack. That was enough information for him to know just how unstable Bill had actually become in the last few days, and he really wanted to explain what his brother had meant when this all started. Will doubted that it would fix anything, but it would at least get Dipper to possibly want to fix it, even just slightly. He was tired of his brother’s moping, and it seems that the moping had taken a darker turn with being stuck within a mile of Dipper Pines.

            “Let’s get going back. I’ve heard enough, and now it’s your turn to listen instead of talk,” Will said, getting up and walking to the cash to pay the bill, which was given to them with their food for some odd reason. Perhaps people only tended to get one thing with one visit so giving the bill with the food had become a habit.

            When he went back to the table, Dipper was already wearing his coat, Will’s coat in his arms. The Cipher twin took his coat with a quiet thanks before pulling it on and opening the door for the brunet.

            The walk back to the Shack was the same as the one to the diner, comfortably silent, though there was a new chill in the air. The two walked a bit closer together to protect each other from the cold wind. Once at the Shack, they were shivering slightly, and it took a bit longer to work the lock than it had on their way out.

            Dipper kicked off his boots and hung his coat up, Will doing the same, though he held onto his coat for personal reasons. They tiptoed up the stairs and up to the attic, being careful not to wake Mabel. Dipper closed the door behind them once they were in his room.

            “So what was it that you wanted to explain to me?” Dipper said, “I’ll listen, but that doesn’t mean I’ll fully understand.”

            “Then ask questions if you don’t get something, I’ll answer as best I can,” Will replied, sitting down in Dipper’s desk chair, “Bill was never just ‘leading you on’, Dipper. I promise you that. He genuinely does care about you.”

            “Then what was with those comments?” the brunet asked, flopping down onto his bed, facing Will.

            “I think you misunderstood the context. Most people would if he had said it to them.” Will went on, “You see, Bill is demisexual; you know what that means, don’t you?” A nod. “Good, then I don’t have to explain it to you. He’s usually flat out disgusted with the thought of intercourse, okay he was pretty much his entire life, until he met you. Him going even that far with you probably made him really nervous and uncomfortable for the most part, but he did it because you wanted to, and he didn’t want to upset you but telling you how he felt when you were so into it.”

            A look of understanding made its way onto Dipper’s face, and made Will smile a bit. Good, he was getting it.

            “But why would be scared of upsetting me over something so trivial?” Dipper asked.

            “You think sex is trivial? Smarter than most people I know then,” Will commented off-topic, “Actually, Bill finds it trivial too. He doesn’t think it’s necessary, and I’m going to guess you think the same way.” Another nod. “He does know, though, that some people think that it’s the biggest and or best way to show that you love someone, and he probably just assumed you were one of those people.”

            “Really? I think the best way to show someone just how much you love them is giving them a cool rock or something,” Dipper jotted in, “not like a diamond or anything, just a cool rock that you think they’ll like. Mabel and I give them to each other all the time and it’s actually how my dad proposed to my mom; by taking her on a nice walk with a cool rock in his pocket and then asking her to marry him while giving her the rock. It was all very well planned, actually.”

            Will laughed at that neat little fact. God, the Pines family was weird, but that was why Bill liked them, he guessed. “Yeah, I agree with you on that,” he said, “but Bill knew that the majority of people think differently and went with what stats showed as the most popular answer.”

            Dipper was grinning at this point, and it made the demon feel good that he could explain things to Dipper in a way he could understand. Bill had never been as good with words as Will was, though how smoothly he used the words he was good with made up fully for his lack of skill with the rest. Dipper’s grin fell though, and then he spoke up: “What are we going to do about Bill though? It’s clear that he won’t talk to me properly, and I’m not sure if I could even get the right words to apologize to him out.”

            “Yeah… his hopefully temporary insanity is definitely a problem, but I’ll try talking to him when he seems a bit more stable-” Will was cut off as he sensed a presence in the layer of Mindscape over them. He might be speaking sooner than he hoped, it seemed.

            “Will? Is everything alright?” Dipper asked, rolling around a bit.

            Will let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just got an idea, but good luck getting me to tell you.”

            There were a few moments of silence before Dipper broke it again. Apparently the kid was terrible with not having a conversation, or at least some sort of background noise, going on.

            “How are you so comfortable around me?” he asked.

            The question surprised Will a bit. “You mean because you and my brother are a thing, or just in general?”

            “I mean… the way you act… I don’t want to sound like I’m conceited or anything, though I probably do, but it seems like you’re interested in me or something.” Dipper explained.

            This got Will roaring with laughter in an instant. “Kid, I’m aromantic!” he laughed, “I don’t feel romantic attraction, and I am perfectly fine with that. I personally think that romantic relationships just get in the way of my job and other important things.”

            Dipper made a look that said ‘I feel like such an idiot for not knowing this’, and Will just laughed more. About a minute later, Dipper had joined in on the laugh attack. By the time they both calmed down, they were clutching their sides and gasping for air. Both of them were glad at how far Mabel’s room was from Dipper’s because if she was any closer than she was, the noise they had just been making would have most definitely woken her up.

            “Anyways kid,” Will said with a grin, “I should be heading back soon. I want to get back there before dawn without needing to run though the deeper parts of the forest.”

            Dipper nodded, “Alright. I guess I’ll see you some other time. How about when all of this is fixed up between Bill and I, the two of you come over for dinner some time?”

            “That sounds good,” Will called out as he stepped though the threshold of the door, closing it behind him.

            His expression became grave as he walked down to the door to put his boots on, using magic to leave instead of unlocking the door. Once outside though, he faded into the mindscape, and consequently, right in front of his twin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it. We've reached double didgits in chapters and over 100 pages. I'm still looking around for a beta reader, so if you want to get in on the juciest little spoilers and hints about what might happen in the future, feel free to either leave a comment or email me (my email is on my profile).
> 
> Also, our precious children won't be getting back together next chapter. Sorry about that but it's not like how it was with Luke in the beginning. Oh yeah, and don't forget about him, because he /will/ be back in future chapters.
> 
> On a last note for a milestone chapter, the updates will NOT be going back to schedule. I'll probably be getting them out more frequently if I'm being honest here, because now I don't have to study for exams and I can worry about whatever the hell else I want while my new courses are getting started.
> 
> See y'all in a few days probably!


	11. Spirit of Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooohhhhhhh my god, I am so so sorry for how long this took to get up. I had it ready over a week before the upload but some stuff happened that fucked up my schedule that I had going, but on the plus side you're getting two updates in two days. I have the next chapter already ready, I just want to wait a day before posting because I want to go over it one last time to make sure everything is perfect for you all.
> 
> Also, the indents are gonna be screwy because I got a new laptop, meaning I had to transfer all the files to it, and since I had Microsoft word before (which was working nicely with the uploading and keeping the indents) I lost it, so I had to switch to open office writer (Which I hate) which isn't really the most compatible with this.

           “Well, well, well, if it isn’t my _dearest brother_.” Bill said when Will appeared in front of him in the Mindscape.

           Will felt the blood in his veins freeze solid. Bill looked like something out of a horror movie, which, Will supposed, he technically was. His eyes were now blood red with a black pupil and iris, reverse of what Dipper had described, and his teeth were dagger sharp. His usually pristinely trimmed and cleaned nails were now inch long talons covered in blood, and as he raised one of these bizarre talons to his mouth, a long, forked tongue flicked out to lick some of the blood off of it. If that wasn’t enough, his shirt seemed to have torn away long ago, for it wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity, revealing a body that was swirling with different sigils and symbols from different eras, different cultures, different dimensions even, each one a representation of death and destruction. There were also what seemed to be some sort of bone-like wings sprouting from his back. A thin layer of what looked like scaled skin covered the bony joints.

          “Bill, what are you..?” Will began to question as Bill took a long knife out of a sheath that was attached to his waist. Before he could finish getting the words out of his mouth though, Bill was running at him. In order to save himself, he teleported out of the Mindscape and then right back into the Mystery Shack. Of course, with his luck he had gone to the complete opposite place that he wanted to. He had been aiming for a secret room in the lowest basement level of the house, but instead had gone straight back to Dipper’s attic room.

          The pop of Will’s appearance startled Dipper wide awake again. He had just begun to doze off when the demon reappeared in the middle of the room, a look of pure terror in his eyes.

           “Will what-” he began but was hushed right away. Something had really gotten to Will, and Dipper had a bad feeling that he knew what, or who, it was.

         They stood there in silence for a moment or two before another pop sounded and the twisted Bill appeared floating in mid-air. Dipper was frozen in place as those horrible red eyes stared right into his own... and then the demon began to approach. Will let out a yell of protest, but was silenced as the blade in Bill’s hand was suddenly at his brother’s throat.

          “Hey there, Pine Tree,” Bill said, his voice not altered for some reason.

           Dipper smiled at Bill. It wasn’t forced or anything, it was a genuine smile. He was happy to hear Bill’s normal voice again, happy to hear the voice that had comforted him in the past. Hearing it let him know that his friend, and soulmate, was still somewhere in there.

           Bill’s insane grin faltered then fell at receiving a pleasant smile that wasn’t fake or forced, which made Will smile brightly at his brother. The blond caught the look out of the corner of his eye and glanced over at his twin, the knife hovering there falling to the floor, a confused expression on his face. He looked between the two for a moment before his expression turned pained and he disappeared with another small pop.

          Dipper and Will stood there for a few minutes, small smiles on their faces, though their eyes screamed confusion. When they finally regained their thought process, they let out nervous laughs.

           “That… that was certainly something wasn’t it?” Dipper asked, “What was that knife though? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

           Will finally moved from his standing position to sit on the edge of Dipper’s bed. “It’s part of why Bill looked like that,” he began, “You see, he has this special power that makes him the strongest demon out there, though I’m not that far behind. It’s called the Spirit of Chaos, and that knife is part of his attacks. It’s a blade that’s made of pure magic, more specifically, it’s made purely of _his_ magic which means only he can use it.”

            “Why is it called the Spirit of Chaos though?” Dipper questioned, sitting up properly, crossing his legs.

          “You saw him right? Doesn’t he look like he’s made of chaos?” Will asked in retaliation. When he got no definite answer, he continued, “He is literally pure chaos when he’s like that. It makes him practically unstoppable, though a bit more sane than he appears. In fact, I think that that brings him back from going over the edge, but if he end up being pushed over while in that state, say goodbye to everyone you love because the next time you’ll see them is the afterlife.”

           “Wait, he’s more sane when he’s like that?” Dipper asked, “If anything I’d say he looks less sane than before.”

           “Yeah, well, looks aren’t everything, Sapling,” Will commented under his breath.

          Those who knew him often took the blue-haired Cipher twin for a sweet and kind person. Even those who knew him well made the mistake of calling him a gentle and naïve soul. He wore his sweet mask well, fooling even humans with the most acute senses. Underneath his kind facade though, was a dark and twisted soul. Only one person knew just how twisted he could be, his twin, the only person who was just as twisted as he was. The two of them had known just how dark they were since they were children. They would disturb the other children with their actions and tales. With the worst of his childhood memories running though his head, memories of children tossing rocks at the twins, shouting at them, calling them witches and saying they should burn, Will turned to look at Dipper, an odd feeling in his chest. He had not felt it in years, this strange desire. Then again, he had never exactly gotten this close to another person other than his brother in years.

        Dipper noticed the way that Will was looking, and knew exactly what that expression meant. Honestly, he would most definitely be up to actually doing someone, especially someone with a face like that, if it were not for the looming threat of Bill, who had the exact same face now that he thought about it, deciding to show up whenever. It didn't help that the person looking at him like that was Bill’s brother. On the other hand, he could easily put up a barrier spell around the room to keep Bill out. Ah, fuck it. He could really use the distraction at the moment, and Will was looking at him like he was about to devour him.

            The brunet got up and grabbed a spell book from his shelf, opening it to the page he needed and began to read it aloud. It’s rough translation was something along the lines of ‘I put a lock around this room, keep those within the borders trapped inside, while those without trapped outside’. It was a rather cheesy spell, but it worked wonders in the past and he wanted Bill to leave him alone; that he remembered.

           Will cocked an eyebrow at the utterance of the room isolation spell. Was the brunet really doing what the demon thought he was doing? If so, he was definitely content. Just because he found serious relationships unnecessary, it didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy a good romp. I would also help relieve the stress of the situation, mostly; let them get out of their right minds for a bit, get lost in the feeling.

           When Dipper finished speaking, he tucked the book back onto the shelf, and turned around to find the blue-haired Cipher twin standing right in front of him, their noses almost touching. His breath caught in his throat as Will pressed flush against him, the heat from the demon’s body seizing him in the unawares in the slightly chilly room. His back was being pressed into the shelf as a pair of soft yet firm lips pressed against his, the heat shocking him again, causing him to let out a small gasp. Of course, Will used that opportunity to deepen the kiss, eliciting a small moan out of the brunet.

           Dipper tried to flip their positions, but Will was much stronger than he looked. Against all of his pride, the Pines man silently admitted to himself that this actually didn’t feel all that bad. In fact, he rather enjoyed being under Will’s control like this.

          At some point, Will had grabbed his wrists and was holding them up above his head, making him unable to do much but wiggle and shift to try to move away, though that was mostly out of habit. He also was shifting to try and create more friction. God, he was so desperate, and he wasn’t even ashamed of that fact.

            Will stopped kissing Dipper and he let out a slight needy whine. The Cipher twin let out a deep chuckle next to Dipper’s ear, making the man shiver in anticipation.

            “Oh, god,” Dipper whined breathlessly. He felt his knees go weak and give out slightly. The only support for standing he had now was the demon pressed against him.

          Dipper’s eyes had been closed from the moment Will’s lips met his, but now he risked cracking them open a bit, only to widen them in a strange mixture of fear and arousal. Will was looking down at him with a smirk on his face and a hungry glint in his eyes. Just with that look, Dipper knew that he was in for a rough time. The strange thing was, he was looking forwards to it. He was anticipating the rough treatment to the point that he felt like he was made of jelly.

           Suddenly, he was hitched further up the bookshelf, his legs wrapping around Will’s waist as he was pressed hard against the shelves behind him. The demon’s mouth was reattached to Dipper’s and he had let go of the brunet’s wrists, letting him tangle his hands in the blue locks of the other man.

         The next thing Dipper knew, he was being tossed roughly onto the bed, his shirt riding up on his stomach and chest. He was expecting Will to pin him down or something along those lines, and what he got was practically the complete opposite.

             Will did lay on top of him, but he didn't do anything else. All he did was lay there and wrap his arms around Dipper's torso.

             “This is wrong,” Will mumbled, his voice muffled by Dipper's shirt, “You're with my brother. This is so wrong...”

            Dipper didn't respond. Honestly, he wasn't thinking. He just wanted a sort of distraction from the hell his life had become, and in doing so, had created even more chaos than before.

             “I can almost hear you thinking. Go to sleep,” Will said, and before he could protest, Dipper was already falling asleep.

           Once the brunet's breathing evened out, Will got up. He was going to have to face Bill sooner or later. With a small pop, the demon teleported himself to the Cipher twins' home.

              There on the couch in the main room, was Bill. He wasn't using Spirit of Chaos anymore, thank whatever god or gods may be above. The blond looked confused.

              “I don't get it,” Bill said, looking up at his twin, “I just... I don't get it, Will.”

              “What don't you get?” Will asked, “What are you talking about?”

              “Pine Tree. I don't understand him at all,” he explained, “I thought I did at first, for the longest time, but something happened. He's changed.”

             “Well it has been years since the two of you really saw each other, and it doesn't help that the last time you saw each other, before the apartments of course, it was the apocalypse,” Will sat down next to his brother, “People can change in that amount of time, especially after being a part of the end of the worlds. Honestly, I'm surprised he's as he is after all of that.”

             “That's not what I mean,” Bill hissed out, “I mean he's hiding something; holding back information from me that he wouldn't have before. I don't get it. Why is he doing that?”

              The twins sat in silence, both contemplating the question at hand. Will was the one who broke the silence.

              “Maybe...” Will started slowly, “he doesn't want to worry you with whatever it is he's hiding.”

              Bill just let out a heavy sigh, hanging his head. “It's worrying me more that he hasn't said anything...”

              “Well, you have to think about how well he thinks he knows you. He knows that the two of you were a thing, but probably is unsure of just how close you two were.”

              “Still,” Bill huffed, “I can't help but worry about him, even if we are in a spat.”

              Will laughed a bit, glad to at least sort of have his brother back.

▲▼▲

             Dipper began to wake up just as the sun breached the horizon. Groggily, the brunet rubbed his eyes with a yawn. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what, but something felt off to him. Getting up, he wandered blearily over to his closet and took out a fresh shirt and pair of pants. Stumbling a bit, he eventually managed to change out of the clothes he had fallen asleep in.

          The brunet trudged down to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, only to be interrupted almost immediately by a loud and obnoxious knocking at the front door. Grumbling irately, he went over to answer. He was genuinely expecting Pacifica, forgetting she that she was halfway across the country, so when he opened the door and saw the Cipher twins,he was a bit surprised.

              Will looked content and slightly triumphant, while on the other hand, Bill looked both worried and dejected. Dipper moved aside silently, letting the two inside.

              “I'm surprised you're actually up at this time,” Will commented, helping himself to a cup of the freshly brewed coffee, “I was afraid we'd have to find a way to fully break the sealing spell on your room in order to wake you up.”

              Dipper blinked in confusion a few times before remembering the previous evening and nodded.

           An awkward silence ensued. What was Dipper supposed to say to the twins, each of which he had had a very heated makeout session with? The tension in the room increased even more, if that was even possible, when Bill spoke up.

             “Pine Tree,” he said, “I think we need to talk.”

           Dipper tried to say that he agreed, but he suddenly felt that he was unable to make his voice work. His throat was constricting on itself and he felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. He was being overwhelmed with emotions, and he didn't know why. Maybe it was the remembering the night all of this had started, or the thought of their fight being resolved, or it could have simply been Bill talking to him like, not to mention as, a real person again. Whatever it was, Dipper found himself quickly enveloped by two pairs of warm arms as the tears started to fall.

            As he hugged the two people back, he discovered that it wasn't Bill and Will as he had originally thought, but Bill and Mabel. When his own twin had joined this, he had no idea, he was just happy to be truly back with his family.

             Eventually, Mabel let go, leaving Dipper and Bill hugging in the middle of the living room.

            “Don't think this gets you out of talking about all the shit that hit the fan,” Bill murmured into Dipper's ear, pulling him a bit closer to help ease his own anxiety about the situation.

             The brunet nodded into the demon's chest, not wanting the warmth to stop. They stood like that for another minute before their twins coughed awkwardly.

            “Well, I believe my work here is done,” Will said as the two pulled away from each other, obviously reluctant. “I should go and check in on my own humans now. Have fun with your little conversation.” And with that, he popped out of the room.

             “I'll let you two be as well; you need your privacy,” Mabel said, going to walk out of the room.

            "Hold on, Shooting Star,” Bill piped up, “If Pine Tree's okay with it, I was thinking he and I could go for a walk to talk about all of this. Early morning air is good for the mind. I guess after I became a demon I didn't get much fresh air at all, and that probably explains my own mental state!”

           “Alright, I'm still going to get dressed, so if the two of you aren't here when I leave my room, I know you're probably just fine,” she said, leaving the room with a little wave.

           Dipper excused himself to go get dressed quickly, leaving Bill for a few minutes. Bill stood there in the living room, looking around at all the things he had grown familiar to. From the old furniture, to the crappy decorations. He took deep breaths of musty yet oddly nice air, loving the smell that reached his nose. Everything about the mystery shack was friendly and familiar. Well, most things. He would always hate that room behind the vending machine, for reasons that he really wouldn't like to admit.

             True to his word, Dipper showed up in the door way not five minutes later, fully dressed and groomed. Without speaking, the two left the house and immediately began to move towards the forest. Once under the cover of the trees, their conversation began.

             “Will explained what your side kind of was, or at least what he thought it was,” Dipper said simply.

             “I'm guessing he told you I'm demisexual?” Bill asked, looking over at the man walking beside him.

             Dipper nodded. “Did he tell you how I really felt about sex?” Bill shook his head. “Well, pretty much I do feel attraction, but I don't really care. It's not like it's the biggest thing that you can do for someone you love.” Dipper then bent down and grabbed a smooth, shiny pebble off of the ground, wiping the slush onto the hem of his shirt before holding it out to Bill. “I honestly think it's the little things that show it most. Like finding a cool rock that you think they would like and giving it to them.”

             The two of them stood there, one hand each on the little rock resting in Dipper's palm. Neither spoke, words not needed at the moment to convey their thoughts. It had only been a couple weeks since they had last felt this rush from the other, but they craved it like it was air. Maybe that was why they got so out of it when away from each other for long spans of time. Maybe their magic needed the others to keep up to par.

            Bill closed his hand around the pebble and put it in his jeans pocket. “Follow me, I want to show you something,” he said, taking Dipper's hand in his own. “You asked about this a while ago, but I wasn't ready to show you it.”

             With no more explanation than that, the blond tugged Dipper along a small path that went deep into the forest. After a few minutes of walking, Dipper was beginning to fail to recognize his surroundings. This was the deepest he had ever been in the forest before, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. It was neat to see new sights, but it was rather frightening when these new sights couldn't be seen, other than their bright glowing eyes, and the occasional hissing or growl coming from the darkness around him. What Bill wanted to show him that was in such a dark and seemingly dangerous place, he was a bit afraid to know. This was the man who has an odd love of giving animal (or hopefully animal) teeth and other body parts to people as gifts.

              “It's not usually this... threatening,” Bill said, “I don't know what's causing it but the forest isn't enjoying my presence at the moment, and considering that these are _my_ woods, it's highly worrying.”

              The demon picked up the pace, practically dragging Dipper along behind him in a hurry to get to where he was planning to go. If Bill was worried about this, the brunet figured that, odds are, he should be as well.

             The two hurried along in the dark forest, which was getting progressively darker as they went. Dipper heard Bill mutter threats under his breath at whatever it was that was doing this. The brunet had a suspicion about what, or more specifically whom, was causing all of this, and he really did not want to be right this time.

              Disappointingly, it turned out that he _was_ right in his assumptions.

              As the pair approached what looked to be an elegant stone cottage, a dark, humanoid figure began to shiver into existence in front of the door.

              “Tad...” Bill growled, his silhouette getting a dark gold outline. “Why are you here?”

              “To greet you of course, old friend!” the black haired demon said, practically purring it, “Also, I have a little... collection to make.”

              The blond demon shoved Dipper behind him, shielding him from the other man who almost oozed malicious intent, receiving a low chuckle in response.

              “Like that will stop me from collecting my dues,” Tad laughed.

             Dipper yelled as dark tendrils of magic wrapped around him and brought him over to Tad's side, where the black haired demon gripped his arm with an iron hard grip. He called out to Bill desperately, terrified of what might happen to him if his soulmate didn't come to help him out of this mess. As Bill began to move towards them though, the two began to dissolve into a deep purple mist. Dipper heard Bill call out to him, but it was too late for the blond to do anything.

              Tad had Dipper, and he had no clue how to find them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you all for putting up with my bullshit I s2g you're amazing just for dealing with this messed up schedule.


	12. You're Going To Regret That

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second update, as promised. Indents are still being done by hand so pardon the uneveness of them all please

            Three days, Dipper had been there. At least, he thought it had been three days since he had been brought to his pitch dark prison. The only reason he thought this was how often he was brought food, which he didn't eat for a couple reasons. Reason one was that he couldn't be fully sure whether or not it was poisoned, and reason two was that he was physically unable to since his hands were cuffed to the arms of the chair he was in.

             Three days and he hadn't seen anyone since he had arrived, not even who, or what, brought him the food. Every second that passed made him more and more anxious.

             The sound of a heavy metal door opening made him jolt. Slow, tentative steps began to walk towards him, causing him to tense up with each harsh clack.

             “Well, well, well, Pines,” a low voice purred out, “I'm surprised you're doing so well, considering that you haven't been eating the food I so graciously prepared for you.”

             “Like I'd eat anything you make,” Dipper's voice came out weak and raspy from the lack of use.

            Tad chuckled, a ball of violet flames appearing in the demon's hand, “You will if you want to survive, Little Tree,” he said, “Not only can you not live without food, you'll also die very quickly from the... punishments you'll receive if you disobey me.”

            Dipper gulped. What in the seven hells did the demon have planned for him? Whatever it was, it was almost guaranteed that it would actually be from one or more of the circles of hell.

           “No, no, nothing like that,” Tad chuckled darkly, “though it may feel like it to you, seeing as you're not used to it. Eventually, you may even come to enjoy the punishments.” The demon was now standing directly in front of Dipper, leaning down so their faces were inches apart. He could feel the brunet's ragged breaths, and could see the fear in his eyes. It was intoxicating , the power trip this was able to cause. Dipper gulped and he heard the human's breath hitch when he strengthened his gaze. So, this was why Bill was so intrigued by the brunet. He was beginning to understand why he stuck with the pitiful creature.

             “What the hell do you have planned for me..?” Dipper said weakly, hanging his head in a mixture of fear and borderline panic.

          Tad lifted Dipper's chin slightly, though the brunet kept his eyes averted from the slightly threatening demon. “Oh, Little Tree,” he purred, “You will learn soon that knowing those things makes it worse.”

           At that, Dipper only managed to make a small whimper escape him. He wanted to retort, but he was genuinely afraid of Tad. It was a deep-rooted fear he felt in his veins; blood running cold as ice. Never had he felt this terror as deep as it was. He had felt something close when Bill had been the Spirit of Chaos, but it wasn't like this. He had known he could trust Bill. With Tad though, it was quite clear he couldn't trust this monster.

            “Quite right in the assumption that you can't trust me,” Tad said, letting go of Dipper's chin, undoing the cuffs that held the brunet's wrists to the wooden chair, “But you do know that obeying is different than trusting, right?”

              Rubbing his wrists, Dipper nodded, still keeping his eyes averted.

              “Good,” Tad turned away and began to walk toward the door, “Now come with me...”

▲▼▲

             Bill was losing it. The Mystery Shack had been turned into a war zone, and Will and Mabel were in the middle of it. Anytime the blond demon had gotten any sort of wind about Tad or his followers, out he went to grab another hostage. Well, the two called these people and creatures hostages, though they knew Bill was going to kill them whether he got information out of them or not.

             Three days and they had already buried thirteen bodies of varying humanoid creatures. If this went on much longer, they were going to have to start burning the bodies instead of burying them. Considering the last two or three had been in multiple pieces, it might be easier to just burn them if Bill kept up that trend.

             At the moment, the more docile twins were sitting in the living room, hunched over a blueprint of Tad's hideout. Though Bill's methods were messy and inhumane, they had to admit that it got shit done. They were discussing where in the hideout Dipper might be when the blond demon himself walked in, covered in blood, licking a bit of it off his hand.

             “Another one dead?” Will asked, not looking up from the map.

             “No, not yet,” Bill commented offhandedly, “Though they probably won't last much longer in their current state.”

            Bill looked different than before Dipper had been taken. His hair was wilder, the dark tips stained reddish from blood, and his pristine nails were extended to claws. He held himself differently as well. His shoulders were back, giving him an air of authority and regality. It had been a very long time since Will had seen him like this; living up to his title as the Gold Prince of Daemons. He himself wasn't a big fan of fitting his title as the Turquoise Prince of Daemons, but he would if the war called for it.

            Bill sighed and let his shoulders slump, now just looking like a defeated demonic dignitary, which he technically was in a way. Will got up and set a hand on his brother's shoulder. The blond turned and pressed his forehead into Will's shoulder, getting a pitying sigh out of him.

             “We'll find your little Sapling, Bill,” he said, making said blond stand up straight. “We'll find him, and we'll make the Amethyst Knight pay for this.”

             A flicker behind Will's eyes made Bill take a deep breath and walk to the table where Mabel was still hunched over the blueprints.

             “Where do you think he might be?” Bill asked, looking determined, though his eyes were deathly cold.

            Mabel pointed at the paper, at a room that was supposedly on the lowest level of the building, “We think he might be being kept here, but there's also the possibility of him being on either a metaphorical, or even literal, leash and being forced to follow Tad around,” the female Pines twin explained, “If that's the case, he would most likely be on the top level with Tad in his work areas. Sadly, that's the most well-guarded level of the hideout, and from the information we have we think-”

           “It's got blood wards on the doors and windows,” Bill finished, digging the tip of his claw into the room that was labelled as Tad's office. “But blood wards only work on keeping those of a lower rank than you out, and because Tad is only a knight, even if he is the final one, he's a lower rank than Will and I.” Bill was mumbling almost to himself at this point, glaring at the blue and white of the paper, “Only problem here is you Shooting Star; you can't get through because you're on a lower level of magic than Tad.”

           “Then when we do this, I'll be waiting out here,” Mabel said, circling a spot on the ground level outside of the main building, “and can be a distraction while you and Will go in for the main job.”

            Will joined in at that, “If she's going to be the distraction, then we need back up in between her rank and ours.”

            “Pyronica and Kryptos,” Bill commented, “Those two would be perfect for this.”

          “I want Pacifica to help as well,” Mabel said quietly, immediately attracting the attention of the Cipher twins, “I've been telling her about what's happening via Skype, phone calls and texting, and she said herself that she want's in on this.”

            “No way am I letting her join in on this,” Will said, looking mad, “This could get bloody and-”

            “Let her, Will,” Bill said quietly, not looking away from the blueprints.

            At that, Will gave his twin an incredulous look. “Bill, you know how dangerous this is going to be. I don't want to involve my human in something that-”

            “And you think I'm happy these two are a part of this?!” Bill snapped, glaring at Will, “I'm not but do you see me complaining about it? No you don't because I know that I can't stop it, that this is what it's all been leading up to. If Llama wants to join this, it might help Shooting Star here fight better. Not just that, but we need as many people as we can get, so don't start acting like this now.”

           Will was stunned into silence. Bill had never openly taken control of being the all-knowing and battle-wizened being he was. A deep sigh escaped the younger twin. He knew Bill was right about this, no matter how much he hated to admit it. “I'll be right back. I'm going to get her. She has to be here if she wants to know what's going on by the time we start the mission,” he said before disappearing with a flash of blue light.

            “He'd better get Pyronica and Kryptos while he's at it,” Bill mumbled.

           Mabel looked at Bill in a mixture of awe and trepidation. She had never seen him so authorizing. Timidly, she spoke up: “Bill?” she asked. “Are you the younger or older twin?”

            He looked over at her, his usual semi-docile expression on his face. “I'm the older twin,” he said simply.

            “But what does that really mean for demons?”

         “It means that I know everything and anything I want with just the snap of my fingers, or even less, while Will has to use effort to get his knowledge. He has to sort through a lot of different things in his mind to get at the things that I know instantly,” he explained, “Consequently though, it means he has a better use and understanding of emotions, while I tend to only understand cold, hard fact.

           “It's kind of why we have to see each other at least once a year. It keeps the balance between the mostly emotionless killer and the almost over-emotional pacifist. Ying and Yang, Shooting Star. We're opposites that need the other for balance. If we don't have that balance, then things can get bad for one of us...”

            “I'm guessing that one is you?” she asked, leaning back on the couch to relax a bit before they had to get back to planning.

            Bill nodded. “Without either Pine Tree or Will to pacify my violent tendencies, a lot of blood gets spilled, and a lot of time that leads to a lot of regrets,” he sighed.

            Mabel nodded, only half understanding what Bill was saying. A pop of green and pink in front of them alerted them of the two new demons in the room.

            “Okay, what is it now-” the green-haired demon began, ending in a gulp when they saw Bill.

            “You should know very well just what it is now,” the blond growled. “You know that useless bastard Tad has something very precious to me, and now we have to get him back.”

            The other demon, who had a shock of long pink hair, grinned wildly, “You mean we just got in the middle of a war between two of the most possessive demons in all of the twelve dimensions?” they chirped excitedly.

            “I think that's what he's getting at,” the first demon said.

           “Shooting Star, this is Kryptos and Pyronica. They were my best commander and strategist in the last big war we had,” he said, motioning to each respectively, “It's how the got their titles: Kryptos the Emerald Strategist of Daemons, and Pyronica the Rose Commander of Daemons.”

          “Out of the frying pan and into the fire!” Pyronica sighed, rolling their eyes, “We were known as notorious before getting involved with this psychopath here, and we've been feared since he recruited us for our jobs.”

           “We're really not sure which side of the line is better, to be honest here,” Kryptos mumbled.

          “If it improves your situation, you two won't be going right in after Tad; that's reserved for Will and I. No, you two will be with Shooting Star here and her mate Llama,” Bill said, getting up from his spot on the couch, “By the way, their actual names will be told to you by each of them respectively, since I can't stand human names most times.”

           The two demons looked over at the female Pines twin who waved cheerily at them.

           “I'm Mabel, and the girl Bill refers to as Llama is Pacifica,” she said, “I'm glad that you're willing, even if a little bit, to help get my brother back.”

           “Wait so the-” Pyronica started, but was quickly shut up by Bill.

          “Yes, he is,” the blond growled, shooting a dark glare at the pink haired demon who cowered slightly, “Now, Kryptos, Pyronica, I'd like the two of you to come with me. There's something I need to discuss with the two of you on the topic of Tad and his blood barrier.” With that, he walked out of the room, the other two following him with worried expressions.

         Once far enough away from Mabel so that she couldn't hear what they were saying, Bill spoke up: “She doesn't know about their own status as... whatever mythical creature they are half of, and neither does Pine Tree, or as I expect you both to call him, Dipper.”

            “You mean the Sapphire and Pink Tourmaline Deities don't even know what they are?” Kryptos gaped.

           “They know they have magic, but that's about it. Hell, I'm not even sure where their almost immeasurable magic prowess comes from, and I'm an all knowing deity,” Bill sighed, exasperated. “For all I know the two could be part demon or...” he trailed off.

            “Or what?” Pyronica asked.

            There was a look of realization on Bill's face, which then broke out into a wide grin. “Nephilim,” he said simply, looking at the other two, “They're Nephilim. How did I not see this before!? All the signs are there; unlimited, extremely strong magic, being one with nature in specific ways, even the fact they were born as twins. How did I miss the signs!?” The blond demon was now moving around the kitchen, wildly moving his hands, laughing a bit in his revelation. “My humans aren't even humans! They're an extremely rare mythical race!” his face then dropped slightly, “Oh my gods, I almost slept with a half-angel.”

            At the semi-mortified expression on their boss' face, the two lower demons began to laugh. Of course one of the two rulers of the seven hells would almost sleep with his complete opposite.

             “Good job on that one, brother,” an amused voice said from the doorway, “though I can't say that I didn't almost make the exact same mistake.”

            Bill turned around to see Will standing there, an amused but slightly disgusted look on his face. “Don't remind me of the fact that you almost slept with my soulmate,” he said bluntly, “It's really weird and rather disturbing if I'm being honest here.”

              The blue-haired demon let out a barking laugh that startled Pyronica and Kryptos, but made Bill glower a bit more heavily. “I'm amazed that you even know about that. I was expecting to have to explain myself for that comment,” he chuckled, “Though I guess that may have been the reason you were so pissed off at me afterwards.”

           The blond only nodded at that. “How about we go and plan our strategy, now that we have our little battalion here,” he grumbled, leading the way back to the living room.

▲▼▲

            “Damn it, Ruby!” Tad yelled, slamming a hand down on his desk, causing both the ginger woman and brunet man in the room with him to jump, “Thirteen agents,” he hissed, “and not one came back. Why do you think that is?”

             “B-because they were-” Ruby started, only to be cut off immediately.

            “No, not them, or at least it wasn't fully them,” the raven-haired demon growled, “Who was the one who sent them all that close to the fucking monster there instead of keeping them stationed in the town like I said to?”

             Ruby gulped, eyes bulging, “It was me,” she whispered, trembling.

          “Exactly. Now, who do you think is going to have to make up for thirteen of my agents being tortured for information, then slaughtered once the information was spilled?” Tad purred out, leaning over his desk slightly.

             “M-me...” the drakon's voice was nothing more than barely breath at that point, and it would be a miracle if she made it out of that room.

           With a wicked smile, the demon slashed his hand through the air, causing the drakon to disappear in a puff of red dust. “Looks like I caused the death of yet _another_ species,” Tad sighed, rolling his eyes, “Out goes the Ruby Drakon, the last one alive.”

           Dipper kept his eyes averted from the sick bastard sitting in the deep brown leather chair beside him. Over the last few hours, a sticky, bubbling feeling had begun to grow in his stomach. This demon was definitely one that was truly demonic, and Dipper felt truly disgusted at the presence of him. He had never been one who really liked to say he hated something, but this man definitely deserved that. Dipper Pines truly, genuinely, hated Tad Strange, and wasn't ashamed even a sliver for it.

             “Little Tree, you've been oddly silent for the last while. Is there something that's bothering you?” Ah yes, the wretched creature speaks.

             “Nothing, no,” is all that Dipper granted the demon as a response.

             “I can tell you're getting antsy, standing around. Why not walk around the manor?” Tad asked, a sickly sweetness in his voice.

             “I'd rather not, but thank you for the offer,” Dipper said blandly.

            When the demon looked over at him, he noticed something different about the human standing there. He didn't look fully human anymore. There was a bright white aura surrounding him, and his posture was straighter than any other being of his age. Not only that, but his eyes seemed to be glowing a bright, pure blue.

          Tad stood up very suddenly, his chair screeching on the wooden floor as it slid gracelessly away from the desk before falling with a loud crash. Dipper hadn't even flinched at the noise, and still stood staring straight ahead. “ _You!_ ” Tad practically screamed, “You- how!?”

             Dipper just calmly turned his head to look at the demon before him, his face contorting from confused to a look of pure horrific disgust.

             Tad growled, composing himself, “You wretched creature,” he hissed out, “How did you keep yourself cloaked for so long?”

             “I have no idea what you mean, but you... you're disgusting,” Dipper said.

             A barking laugh echoed through the room, “Of course the _angelic being_ would say that, it's only natural.”

             “Angelic...?” Dipper questioned, taking a step back from the man standing before him, shaking his hands to free himself of a power only he could see.

            “That's right, Little Tree,” Tad sneered, advancing on the brunet, causing him to trip on the edge of the rug as he continued to back away from the demon, “You're one of the Nephilim; a child of an angel and a human. More of a bastard child than any demon or human out there. You're your own breed of nasty, kid. Outlawed by both humans and angels alike, seen as the biggest sin an angel can make.”

             “You're wrong,” Dipper said, sounding a bit panicked.

           “Oh, am I? Then explain to me how you're such a whiz at magic, and seem to have an unlimited supply of it?” the demon laughed harshly, continuing to advance, “Thanks to you, an angel got cast out of their beautiful paradise and sent down to the dull wasteland of Purgatory. You're a mistake kid, and mistakes were made to be corrected.”

            At that, Tad lunged at Dipper, long nails glowing black. One scraped Dipper's cheek, the force of the demon's palm hitting him a split second after, knocking him back and to the ground. The small scrape burned like nothing he had ever felt before. It stung like acid poured onto an open wound, and he felt himself screaming, but couldn't hear it. He felt his vocal chords becoming raw with the strain he was putting them through, but he couldn't stop. Digging his fingertips into the wound with the intention of ridding at least some of the toxins in it, he screamed louder. All at once, the pain and the screaming stopped. Dipper opened his eyes, still brimming with tears, to find Tad clutching his ears, crouched on the floor in front of him.

            “What the hell?!” the demon yelled, glancing up, “How did you do that?”

            “I don't know, but-” Dipper stopped speaking as he stood, feeling an odd weight on his back. Looking behind him, he almost fell over at the sight he saw.

            A pair of white, feathered wings with blue tips were there, moving as he willed them. “What the..?” he muttered.

            “I told you: you're a Nephilim,” Tad said, standing back up. “A mistake that needs to be fixed. Your wings are clipped; you'll notice if you look closely.

            “You're standing still?” he said, stretching the wings out, looking back at Tad, “Well, I only have one thing to say about that.”

            “And what would that be?”

            “You're going to regret that.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Tad.
> 
>  
> 
> Fucker deserves it.


	13. Into The Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't bother with the fucking indents right now bc I have zero patience for doing it by hand (I NEED MICROSOFT WORD AGAIN JFC)
> 
> Also, please read the bottom notes.

A loud thunk against the front door at two in the morning two days after the full battalion was what stopped the raid party from finishing their preparations right then. Their guards already heightened thanks to the impending mission, Bill and Will were the first two there, nodding at each other, hands raised with matching magic flickering around their fingers.

When the door opened, they were about to hit who or whatever was there but before they could, Mabel screamed at them to wait.

The Pines woman ran up to the winged person who fell through the doorway, catching them before they hit the ground. Bill realized just who it was a second later and dropped to the ground beside them.

“No, no, no,” he muttered, pushing the blood-matted hair out of the person's face, “You total fool, why did you let this happen?”

“Bill I don't think it was his-” Mabel started, looking at the demon.

“I'm talking about myself, Shooting Star,” he said, taking the person from her, “I shouldn't have waited to go to Tad's. I should have gone right away, once we learned the location of his hideout.”

“Bill, it might be better that this happened,” Will chimed in, “We couldn't have kept it from the two of them much longer.”

The blond didn't respond. He just looked at the bloodied, battered face of the person that he had been planning to go and save not minutes ago. Dipper Pines was home, but in terrible shape.

In one swift motion, Bill lifted Dipper up and began to walk towards the washroom. “Shooting Star, Will, I need you two to get fresh washcloths and the first aid kit,” he said. The two nodded and went to do just that. Pyronica and Kryptos followed Bill into the washroom, standing at the door like a pair of sentries.

The demon quickly tore off the blood-stained shirt the Pines man was wearing, followed closely by his pants. In any other situation, Bill would be bothered in one way or another that the human was naked, but this was an emergency, and he couldn't let himself get distracted from the fact that his lover was in shambles.

Mabel came in with the cloths, followed closely by Will and the first aid kit. Turning the warm water on and plugging the drain, Bill gently placed Dipper into the tub, wetting the first cloth and beginning to softly scrub the blood off of the brunet's face. The cloth was stained after only half of his face. Each cloth he was brought was quickly stained, needing to be replaced after only a few minutes of scrubbing. Eventually, he and Mabel got into a cycle of when the cloth he was using became too soiled, he passed it to her for her to rinse it out, taking a new one. A while of this cycle made the water that was so very clear at the start become a deep enough red that it could have passed as pure blood itself.

Bill emptied the tub, rinsing both it and Dipper off, discovering that most of the wounds on the brunet were already closing up. He gasped a bit as he watched a rather large gash begin to seemingly sew itself up. Quickly scrubbing off the remaining dried blood on the smaller man, he moved to the previously soft brown locks, now thickly matted with blood.

Mabel passed Bill a bottle of shampoo, which he immediately took and began to massage into the hair of her brother. He did his best to ignore the large wings that stuck out of the tub at awkward angles, but it was a bit difficult seeing as they had begun to twitch slightly. Dumping fresh water over Dipper's head, plugging his nose and closing his mouth to do so, he jumped as the brunet sat up very suddenly, splashing water everywhere in the process.

Bill shushed and pet Dipper's hair, doing his best to calm down the panicking man. Eventually, the brunet had devolved from a full-on panic to quietly sobbing into Bill's chest. They sat there like that for a long time, just holding each other, both having tears running down their faces.

“Dippin' Dots?” Mabel asked quietly, crouching down beside the two men. Dipper lifted his head to look at her before tearing up more and practically diving into her arms.

Bill stood up and walked over to Will, taking a large, soft towel from his arms. The two looked at each other, having a silent conversation, before Bill turned back to the Pines twins sitting on the bathroom floor. He crouched down, wrapping the towel around Dipper's shoulders and gingerly helping him up. The brunet's legs shook horribly for a moment before they gave out on him, causing him to collapse into Bill's arms.

The demon and Pines woman helped Dipper over to the lid of the toilet seat. Mabel stood back, nervous about helping take care of Dipper out of fear of hurting him further, and let Bill dry him off. The blond was extremely gentle when patting the slowly closing wounds that seemed to slow even further as the water was taken away. Occasionally, Dipper let out slight hisses at the towel touching raw skin and muscle tissue, but didn't protest, although he seemed a bit nervous when Bill took out the needle and thread to stitch the worst wounds up.

Being as gentle as he could, Bill carefully sewed up a large gash on Dipper's thigh. The brunet watched him with interest, barely feeling the needle. He had never seen Bill as focused as he was in that moment, and was jotting things into his memory. Bill held the tip of his tongue between his teeth when he was focusing, and his nose and eyebrows scrunched up slightly. He squinted at the needle, his pupils going extremely small while doing so. All in all, Dipper found the expression adorable, and couldn't stop the tiny smile appearing on his face.

Consequently, his wings perked up, hitting almost everything off of the counters, and hitting Bill in the side of the head as he snipped the tied off string. The blond demon glared at the feathered wing momentarily before focusing on another large gash on the brunet's side. He glared at it a bit, deeming it too deep and wide to stitch up properly. Instead, he stitched it quickly, just enough to close it partially, before taking the gauze wrap and beginning to circle Dipper's torso with it.

“This will have to do for this one,” he said, tying the end of the gauze off, “The wound is too large to stitch up without really bad scarring and a lot of discomfort.”

“Alright...” Dipper said, causing Bill's head to shoot up to look at him with a very concerned expression.

“Pine Tree, what the hell happened to your voice?” he asked, making the brunet look upwards so he could look at the outside of his throat.

“I screamed,” he replied, “like, a lot.”

Bill made him open his mouth widely so he could examine the back of his throat and mouth. “Why the hell were you screaming that much?” the blond asked before his expression darkened, “If he lay even a finger on you, I swear I will rip him to bloody shreds...”

“It wasn't how you think it was,” Dipper jolted as Bill's hands lightly touched his sides, surprised by how light the touch was, “I think I spent a full five minutes screaming after not using my voice for three days, and then... this happened.” He motioned to his wings, which Bill gave a glare to. “I have no idea how to make them disappear, but they've been there since Tad tried to attack me. Hence the scar on my cheek,” he mumbled a bit, looking down at his towel-covered lap.

Bill swiped his hand quickly through the air. Immediately, Dipper's wings transformed into a tattoo of them on his back. “There,” the demon said, “Now that those bothersome, yet beautiful, monstrosities are out of the way, let's get you into some proper clothes.”

Dipper didn't complain as he was helped up yet again by his sister and lover, the two leading him to his bedroom. He got a glance at two supposed demons standing outside of the bathroom door, but decided that he could think about them and why they were there later. Once he was placed on his bed, Mabel left the room so he could get dressed.

“I want to know exactly what happened for you to get into this state, but I think that it can wait,” Bill said, rummaging through the dresser drawers for comfortable clothes, “You seem exhausted, and I don't think it would be a good idea to push you much farther mentally or physically right now.”

A pair of flannel pyjama pants and one of Bill's sweaters muffled Dipper's response as they landed on his face. He pulled them off of his face, setting the pants down beside him, and pulling the soft sweater over his head. He hadn't realized just how broad Bill's shoulders were until he put the sweater on. It seemed that he was almost one-and-a-half Dippers wide.

Blushing, he realized that he was going to have a bit of a hard time getting the flannel pants on thanks to the wound on his leg. Somewhere in between getting hit in the head with a feathered wing and sewing up Dipper's stomach, he had put a gauze wrap around the stitches there as well.

Bill sighed and went over to Dipper, helping him into the pyjamas, then into the bed properly. He gave the brunet a peck to the forehead, right on the birthmark there, and was about to go tell Mabel that Dipper was dressed and ready to be seen, but something, or more like someone, grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving. The blond sighed. Of course Dipper would be stubborn like this, but who was he to complain, really? He loved spending time with the Nephilim boy, and was always an attention whore, if he was being fully honest with himself here.

He turned back and sat on the edge of the bed, playing with the brown locks of hair that sat in waves across Dipper's forehead. A pair of large, deep brown eyes watched his own mismatched ones. A familiar feeling went through him. Breathlessness, heart racing, and throat constricting slightly; the same thing that he had felt the day they had first met. Leaning down, he brushed their lips together softly, relishing in the slight tingling he felt even now, after all this time. There was something different about it now, though; something he could give reason to the feeling with. Their opposing magic was what made the tingling and sparking and jolts run though them whenever they touched, but emotions were what made them enjoy those feelings, those rushes of energy.

“Bill...” Dipper whispered, “Is being a Nephilim... is it wrong? Is it really the worst sin an angel can make, sleeping with a human?”

Bill let out a small chuckle. So that's why the brunet was being so clingy. He was worried, thanks to something Tad had probably said. “No, it isn't, Pine Tree,” the demon said, looking tenderly into Dipper's eyes, “As far as I know, the worst sin an angel can make is committing mass genocide to their own species, that's how they get cast to where I rule. Pay no mind to what Tad said. He doesn't understand the other mythical beings that I do, which causes him to react violently and cruelly to them.”

“So you're saying he's an ignorant prick?” Dipper asked, looking up at the blond.

“Basically, yes,” Bill shrugged. “Now, come here, I haven't seen you in days, not to mention the last time I saw you, I was trying to be sweet and show you something that meant a lot to me. I've been deprived of warmth for almost a week, you're cuddling with me.”

With a chuckle, Dipper leaned into Bill's shoulder, only to be pulled into a hug. The two lay down, adjusting their positions so neither were uncomfortable. Dipper was laying on top of Bill's chest, face burying into the crook of his neck. Sighing contentedly, the brunet lifted his hands to play with the blond ringlets of his partner, receiving what sounded like a purr in response. The noise confused Dipper, causing him to lift his head to look at the demon who was making the odd noise.

“Bill, are you... purring?” he questioned, trying not to laugh.

The blond turned beet red and stuttered indignantly. Unable to restrain himself any longer, Dipper burst into laughter. He buried his face deeper into his partner's neck, shaking with his laughter. Bill wrapped his arms around the brunet and sighed in angered defeat. A few minutes later, Dipper had calmed down, contently running his hands through Bill's hair again. Instead of laughing at the purring like before, he lay there savouring how it felt. If a cat's purring could lull, then it was nothing compared to Bill's. Dipper was out like a light in under five minutes.

Bill on the other hand, felt troubled. There had been something wrong with Dipper's wings when he had seen them. Yes, they were absolutely beautiful, but something about them seemed out of place; missing almost. A ringing from his phone snapped him out of his thoughts. Carefully getting up, he moved out from under Dipper and pulled his phone out from his pocket. Leaving the room through the window, he answered the call.

“Hello?” he asked, settling himself on the small balcony on the roof.

“Where the hell have you even been the last few months? Both your apartment and your little brat of a neighbour's have been completely empty,” a familiar, aggressive voice said.

“Oh-ho-ho, nice to hear from the second biggest asshole out there again. How have you been? Made any children cry lately?” Bill laughed into the receiver.

“I see you've grown a pair in the last while,” Luke sneered, “Is it thanks to Tad?”

Bill burst out laughing at that. “Y-you think _Tad_ had something to do with this? Well, buddy, you're only halfway there,” he said once he had calmed down a bit. “That's about all I expected with your peanut sized brain though, so you're living up to expectations.”

“Cipher, we need to talk,” It sounded like Luke was gritting his teeth to stop himself from snapping.

“Mystery Shack tomorrow at noon, don't be even a second late, or your head will become a new lawn ornament.” Bill hung up the phone after that was said.

The demon sat there and looked up to the sky, watching the stars begin to appear. Slowly the pieces were coming together, and eventually, when they all fell where they were supposed to be, someone would be dead and the universe would balance itself out again.

Bill wrapped himself in blue fire and teleported himself to a very deep part of the forest. He wandered for a bit, looking for any signs of life, only to find that none wanted to show themselves. A small blue flame lit up in his palm, quickly catching the air and lighting everything up in a blue blaze that changed to orange after a few seconds. The blond demon stood in the middle of the bright wave of chaos, letting the smell of smoke and burning wood flood his senses. His head shot up, sensing the life force of some forest creatures. A wide, sick grin spread across his face as he took off after the creatures. He smelled their fear, sensed their panic, and it brought him up into a high that he loved more than anything. The feeling of losing himself in the hunt was the best thing in the world to him, and it had been so long, too long, since he had felt it fully.

More fire flew from his fingertips, trapping the doe and her fawn. The two deer cowered together, backing as far away from the demon as they could without touching the flames that surrounded them. A dark silhouette approached them slowly, sharp teeth glinting brightly in the firelight.

One clawed hand raised itself before slicing the doe's throat, bright red blood pouring from the gash. The fawn had begun to make a fearful noise, crying out for it's family that was already gone. A harsh laugh escaped the figure that stood over the trembling fawn before it dug it's talons into the creatures side, drops of blood dripping steadily from the puncture wounds. The small deer let out another cry as the claws ripped through it's flesh, tearing the poor thing open harshly. The demon was laughing hysterically, using his free hand to slash across the fawn's throat, silencing it once and for all. A snort came from behind the blond demon, causing him to turn around to see the buck that had probably been the father of the fawn he had just sliced to shred.

He turned to face the buck, leaving the doe and fawn in a pile of bleeding flesh on the ground behind him. In the blink of an eye, he was ripping the buck to pieces, feeling his claws move through the tough skin, muscle and sinew of the mighty creature before him. Blood had sprayed onto his face, getting into his eyes making it look like he was crying the life-sustaining liquid that tasted oh so exquisite as it ran down his cheeks and into the corners of his mouth. His golden hair had become matted and bright red, and there was no hope for the previously white dress shirt on his chest. Walking away from the bloody scene, he continued laughing.

A twenty minute walk to the edge of the forest later, and the euphoria had worn off. Instead, a sudden fear settled itself into his bones as he saw Dipper Pines standing on the front porch, looking around for him.

When the brunet's eyes spotted Bill, they both froze. A split second passed before Dipper began to back away from the demon in front of him, looking terrified.

Bill looked down at himself, realizing just what it must look like to Dipper.

“Wait, Pine Tree! Please, wait...” he said, seeing the look of fear in his partner's eyes. This wasn't right. He _never_ wanted his Pine Tree to be afraid of him, and in his momentary loss of sanity, he had become the exact creature that he never wanted the brunet to see him as.

“Bill...” Dipper said, seeming to cower a bit, “your eyes are glowing red.”

Taking a moment to calm his still partially heightened senses, Bill shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened them again, Dipper was standing straight again, though he still seemed wary of the blond. When Bill began to tear up a bit at the situation, Dipper seemed to throw away his fear and wariness. He strode right up to the demon and wrapped his arms around the blood-stained chest of his lover.

Remembering the fire, Bill raised one hand and snapped, putting it out wherever it had spread to in the time he had left it burning. He was the one who broke the hug, pulling away and nodding towards the house.

“I want to ask why you had to go out and do... whatever it is that got you this blood-soaked, but I don't think either of us want to really talk about it right now,” Dipper said, grabbing Bill's hand.

“Quite right on that, but I hate to say that a certain someone called, asking where we've been the last month or so,” the demon replied grimly, letting himself be led to the washroom.

“Hold on, if you're talking about Luke...” Dipper trailed off, obviously confused, “Wait, why didn't you just blast that guy to shreds before, instead of dealing with that abusive bullshit?”

“I can't tell you, Pine Tree; at least not right now.”

The Pines man didn't have a response for that. Instead, he just closed the washroom door and began to undo the buttons of Bill's ruined shirt. Once the demon was undressed, Dipper turned the shower on, waiting until it got warm before nodding towards it, indicating that Bill should wash off. Without checking to see if he listened, the brunet grabbed the clothes and left to the laundry room. He threw the clothes into the washer, dumping a large amount of Oxi into the basin and filling it up. He swished it around with his hand a bit before pouring in the detergent and letting it spin.

Dipper trudged to his room, digging out some pyjamas for Bill. He returned to the washroom, jumping up onto the counter to sit, placing the clothes next to him. He was almost certain that the clothes in the laundry were ruined, but he would at least try to clean them before burning them.

When Bill got out of the shower, he looked as if the rampage in the forest had never happened. He grabbed the towel that Dipper passed to him, drying his hair a bit before wrapping it around his waist. The two of them stood there awkwardly for a moment before Bill walked forwards and rested his head on Dipper's shoulder, wrapping his arms around the smaller man. A moment passed before Dipper returned the hug, burying his face in the blond's shoulder.

Bill held Dipper close, gently petting his hair with one hand while the other rested in the small of his back. The brunet hopped off of the counter after a little while, still pressing close to Bill.

Dipper noticed that Bill still only had the towel wrapped around his waist on, and backed up to let him get dressed. Once the blond had been successfully cleaned up and properly clothed, he shuffled back over to Dipper, grabbing his hand and looking into the deep cerulean eyes. Dipper smiled as the mismatched eyes seemed to warm up as he met their gaze.

Bill felt a warmth spreading though him, starting at his heart. He knew he had fucked up in the past, but he was _finally_ getting another chance. He wrapped his arms tightly around the brunet, nuzzling him quickly before letting go and taking his hand and leading the two of them to the bedroom to sleep.

▲▼▲

The next morning the two acted like nothing had ever happened. Their morning went on like usual, but by the time noon hit, Bill had decided to hide away for a little while.

Dipper was confused for a bit as to why Bill was doing that, but he then remembered that Luke was supposed to be coming over, and decided that he should probably try to appear a bit more intimidating, since he was now the shortest of the three.

Before he could actually do that, Bill walked up behind him. “He'll be here soon, so just sit down and wait,” he said, his eyes narrowed at the front door.

The sat there for what seemed to be an eternity before a knock on the door alerted them to Luke's arrival.

Dipper nervously glanced at Bill, finding a cold and cruel expression in his face. The demon was the first to get up. He swiftly walked to the door, Dipper close on his heels. When the door opened, an equally cruel version of Luke's face was revealed.

“Nice to see you again and all that, I think we should skip the pleasantries and get right down to business here,” Bill said pointing towards the front lawn, “I don't feel like making a mess inside to clean up later.”

“Agreed, Cipher,” is all Luke replied.

The three of them left the porch and went over to the lawn, though Dipper was pretty sure that he should not be there. There was a dangerous air about the situation that told him someone was about to die.

“I know you're working for Strange,” Bill said bluntly, not bothering to hide his distaste at the entire situation.

“That I am. I take it that's why you haven't tried to kill me yet, or at least that's why you didn't kill me before. There's no doubt in my mind that I'm going to be a corpse on the lawn by the end of this meeting,” Luke replied calmly, hiding any trepidation he may have had.

“Yet you still came? You're more of a fool than I thought, Forest,” Bill taunted, a twisted smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Not a fool, Cipher,” Luke closed his eyes as he spoke, “just someone who knows that if you don't kill me, Strange most definitely will...”

Bill hummed, “So what you're telling me is that you've simply accepted your fate?”

Luke only nodded.

“I'm not killing you without a fight, you know. It's no fun that way,” Bill sneered.

“I never thought that. It wouldn't be fun if I just gave up, so, knowing the situation, Tad gave me one final job to do,” Luke looked straight into Bill's eyes. “To take you or the kid our with me.”

Bill's eyes narrowed further, an icy glare that Dipper got chills from without even directly looking in his eyes. The brunet was standing a ways away from the pair of demons, but the energy he felt crackling off of them made it seem like he was right in between them.

“Get inside, Pine Tree,” Bill said.

“Wait, what? But-” Dipper started.

“Get inside, Dipper!” Bill yelled, shocking the brunet with the use of his actual name.

If Bill was insistent enough to call him Dipper, he knew that this was going to get bad. Dipper turned around once the initial fear of the situation wore off.

“And if you see anything,” Bill called out to him, “just remember the me that you _know_ you know.”

The statement confused Dipper, but he nodded none the less.

Once Bill heard the front door close, he closed his eyes and let his cruel smile take up the whole of his mouth, “I hope you've said all you goodbyes because after this, you won't be able to,” he said, his eyes snapping open, both glowing a bright blue.

The change was instantaneous. Blond hair whipped around, it's black tips coming up and turning the rest of the golden locks deep as night. His already thin pupils turned to slits. Bright blue wisps of magic swirled around the demon, his full power being released in that moment.

Luke stumbled backward, shocked at the amount of power radiating off of the man in front of him. This was why Bill Cipher was known as the Gold Prince; his power only matched by that of his twin, the Turquoise Prince. The duo were the most feared pair in the entire Nightmare Realm, and Luke was witnessing just why they were held at such a high level of both fear and respect.

Bill Cipher was a ruthless monster.

His hands turned black and clawed, his fingers resembling knives more than human digits, and he began to walk forwards very slowly. In his current form, Luke couldn't help but feel completely helpless.

“Do you want to know another reason I didn't kill you before?” Bill asked, a long, forked tongue flicking out momentarily to wet his lips, “I wanted to make sure Tad really was watching. I suspected as much at first, but now? Now I know he's watching you; keeping an eye on your every move, and now he'll see just what he's up against.”

Luke released his powers, but he knew it would be useless against the God of demons. His hair got a little bit longer, and his nails grew into inch-long claws, but other than that, he remained practically unchanged.

“I hope you're ready for a _game_ , Forest,” Bill purred out devilishly, “Because I want to play _tag_.”

Luke didn't wait before turning and running as fast as he could.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I've been noticing that the hits on this are beginning to pick up in frequency and in number, even if it isn't by much. I've also noticed that I've been getting a lot of kudos on this. I want to tell you all that yes, I very much love kudos, but I would much prefer comments. I have it set so I can take anon comments or non-member comments, but I barely see any. Personally, I find that Comments are so much better than kudos. I love to hear what you guys think, even if you don't like it that much. I would love to hear your critiques on this and what you all think I could do better. Pretty much what I'm saying here is that I would love more comments and feedback on my work, just take two seconds to type out a simple "I love it" or even an "I hate it". It would mean the world to me.
> 
> As always, I will try to update as soon as I can, and I do have a tumblr and all that (Just check out my profile for all those) still.
> 
> I love you readers so much, you make my days worth the while. Without you all I wouldn't have continued on with this story that I personally love so much, even as the writer. ♥♥♥


	14. Tag, You're It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, bit of a big chapter here both for the author and the story.
> 
> Reason 1 is that I finally let Dip get some, so there is porn in this chapter. If you want to skip it just stop from the first set of triangles that I always put as breaks and continue after the second set.  
> Reason 2 is that the plot is finally coming together a bit thanks to Dip being his precious self. There are a few things that may seem unimportant in this that are actually kind of major in the long run
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!
> 
> Comments, Kudos, and Bookmarks are appreciated and encouraged!

Luke had no chance, that he knew. He could only run for his life, ducking through the trees and underbrush as he ran from the God of Demons himself. Occasionally he would feel the hot breath against the back of his neck and his body would freeze for a half a second before he continued running at twice the speed.

Soon enough, though, he found himself back at the Mystery Shack, trapped against the back wall of the old, dishevelled building. He was done. This was it, there was nothing for him anymore.

In his final moments, Luke smiled, tears rolling down his cheek.

“Any last words, Forest?” Bill grinned madly.

“Actually, yes,” Luke chuckled lightly, “I know you probably won't believe a word I say right now, but I guess whether I say it or not, it's gonna get me killed, so I may as well get it off my chest.”

“I actually want to thank you for this. For killing me. I know that this probably isn't going to be a quick or a painless death, but still. I would rather die by the emotionally charged hand of someone I know than the cold hand of a professional.”

“My hand is just as cold as Tad's, Forest, you know that,” Bill growled, grin falling to a frown. Not an angry snarl or cold sneer, but a pitying frown, “Don't try to fool yourself into thinking you know me either. There are two people in this world, in all of the dimensions, that really know me. Will and myself.”

Luke's gentle smile stayed strong though. “That may be true, but just... I'm glad I had the illusion of knowing you; ruthless killer you may be,” he said quietly. As he finished though, a sharp pain went through his abdomen, long, dark claws digging into him.

Bill leaned in close, mouth next to the ginger's ear, and whispered: “You have a half an hour to get as far away from here as you can before the illusion of you being dead against the shack fades. I destroyed the tracking spell Tad put on you. Go and live the normal, human, life that you want to, and if you ever need to get Tad off your ass again, let me know...”

That was when Tad realized that the pain had already disappeared, and, glancing down, Bill's hand buried deep in his stomach was a translucent image on top of his own, perfectly fine body.

“Why?” Luke asked, his voice barely a whisper, “Why are you doing this?”

Bill huffed a chuckle, “I see everything, remember? I know you were lashing out because you: one: knew I could handle it; and two: just wanted a simple life without any of this high-level demon bullshit,” he said gently, “Note what I said before: only two people really know me. Will shows this side of himself more often than I show it myself, but that doesn't mean it's non-existent.”

When Luke didn't say anything, Bill continued, “Both Will and I are more humane than any human either of us know, though the Pines twins are very close behind,” he explained, “I'm not going to kill you right now because I know you still want to live. I know that there's still hope for you, and though I may be a ruthless killer, I don't, I won't, kill hope for people.

“So run. Run as far as you possibly can away from Tad and this possessive war we're having, and go live your own life. I'll put a concealing spell on you that will last the next few weeks so you can use your magic to help get off his radar if needed.”

Luke then blinked and found himself standing in a place that was very much not Gravity Falls. He was in a meadow filled with wildflowers, the wind carrying a sweet smell on it. A grin broke out on his face when he turned around to find a beautiful, old, rock house on a hill not too far away from where he was standing.

The ginger broke out into a run when he saw the door open, a tanned, dark-haired man standing in the doorway. When the other man saw Luke running up to him, a look of disbelief crossed his face, followed by a look of pure joy.

Luke crashed into the dark-haired man, nothing but happiness radiating off of him as he swore a silent promise to Bill

_“If you ever need help with your war, Bill, I will go to you, because you brought me home; a place I never thought I'd see again.”_

▲▼▲

“Where's the body?” Will asked as Bill stepped into the house, no blood to be seen on him.

“Alive, actually,” he replied, returning to his usual appearance, bright gold trusses curling around his angular face, “I decided that we could use and ally, so I let him go and made it easier for him to get away from Tad.”

“Where did you send him?” Pyronica asked, hanging off of the back of the couch, legs over the top while her body hung against the worn back of it.

“I sent him back wherever Tad stole him from however many years ago it was,” the blond's eye caught sight of Dipper laying on the seat of the couch, watching him, upside-down over the arm, “Sorry about all that, Pine Tree, but I'm afraid I needed to put on a bit of a show for Strange to make it believable. Now, would you follow me?”

Dipper looked a little confused, but got up none-the-less and followed Bill upstairs. “What's up?” he asked once the two were alone.

“If I were to say that that stressed me out more than I'm showing and I need a way to unwind, would you believe me?” Bill asked, dramatically falling onto Dipper's creaky, old bed.

“Okay, you just went out with the intent to kill, and then used a ton of magic to help the guy you wanted to murder out of that situation, all while trying to make it look like you did kill him and have none of it raise suspicion. I would definitely believe you,” Dipper replied, closing the door and sitting down at his desk chair, “But what did you have in mind for relieving that stress? You're giving me a blank here.”

Bill sat up partially, holding a crunch position, to look at Dipper, a small smirk on his face. “I have an idea, but I don't know, you may not like it...”

“Well, I can't tell you if I like it or not if you don't tell me,” Dipper laughed.

With a heavy sigh, Bill heaved himself into a sitting position and crossed his legs, leaning over on his elbows to give a suggestive look to Dipper. “Well, it would be an arduous physical task, and I don't know if you'd be able to keep up,” he purred out.

“Try me on it. I've got great endurance,” Dipper replied, voice smooth.

Bill stood up and walked over to the brunet, sitting down and straddling his lap. He leaned forwards and whispered silkily: “Do you want to know what it is?”

Dipper bit his lip and nodded, humming a bit but keeping his hands to himself.

Instead of answering though, Bill just nipped at the top of Dipper's ear eliciting a small squeak from the brunet that turned into a gasping moan as the blond moved his mouth down to the exposed skin of his neck. Dipper shuddered as Bill's teeth nipped slightly at his pulse-point. Instinctively, he lifted his hands and ran them up and down Bill's chest, undoing the buttons on his dress shirt as he did so. Once the buttons were fully undone, he pushed the silky fabric off of the demon's shoulders. At that moment, Bill gave a particularly harsh bite and Dipper's nails dug into his back, causing the demon to let out a low groan.

Dipper raked his nails harshly down the soft skin of Bill's back, eager to draw out more of those noises that caused heat to boil up inside him. Bill lifted his head to kiss Dipper, grinding down and getting him to open his mouth in a gasp. The blond took advantage of the chance to deepen the kiss, dragging his tongue against the roof of the brunet's mouth.

The two stayed there like that for a moment, kissing ferociously, both driven by an animalistic instinct. Bill smirked against Dipper's mouth, breaking the kiss and standing up. The brunet let out a needy whine at the loss of warmth and contact, his eyes following Bill as the demon pranced around the room, hips swaying in a way that could only be described as perfectly sinful. Dipper's breath caught in his throat as he watched the blond slowly and skillfully undo his bow-tie that somehow was still on him despite his shirt being on the floor in front of Dipper, tossing the strip of fabric off to some corner of the room where it would be found days or weeks later as a memory of this experience.

The demon snapped his fingers, and, seemingly nothing happened. Just as Dipper opened his mouth to ask what Bill just did, the demon answered before the question was tossed into the air: “Sound proofing the room,” he explained, “So nobody questions anything.”

Suddenly, Dipper was anticipating this more than before with the prospect of not having to be careful of the noise level.

The demon turned to face Dipper, causing his mouth to go dry at the sultry look Bill was giving him. The demon swallowed hard and the brunet's eyes watched as his Adam's apple bobbed. When Bill began to saunter back over to him, he instinctively clenched his fingers on his desk chair, gripping tight to the seat.

Bill didn't touch Dipper when undressing him, keeping his hands light as he undid the buttons on the brunet's signature blue and white flannel. How he had gotten it back after Will had taken it, Bill wasn't sure he exactly wanted to know. He heard Dipper gulped as he slowly pushed the soft shirt off over his shoulders, turning his attention to the button and fly on his jeans.

Dipper's breath hitched as Bill's hands barely brushed against his stomach as slim fingers undid the button on his jeans. The demon froze, a look of thought flashing on his face for a brief moment before his hands pinned Dipper's hips down against the chair. At some point during all of this, Bill had ended up on his knees in front of Dipper, making this next task much easier. He lowered his face, breathing a hot breath against the human's crotch before he grabbed the fly of his jeans with his teeth and pulling it down like that. Dipper's eyes had closed when Bill breathed on him, and he jolted when he felt the demon's nose trace down his lower abdomen.

“Bill!” Dipper gasped out as the blond pressed the heat of his mouth against the growing bulge in his pants.

Bill hummed against him, padding the rough fabric with his tongue, eliciting a loud moan from him as his hands gripped the seat of the chair. The hands that had been holding his hips down roughly grabbed his own, placing them on the blond mess of hair in front of him. Dipper quickly tangled his fingers into the golden locks, tugging at them slightly. Bill pulled his mouth away from Dipper's groin, standing up, yanking the brunet with him before tugging his pants and underwear down and off him in one fluid motion.

Dipper was turned around and pushed to sit down on his bed, legs open as Bill settled down in the same kneeling position he had been in before. A gasp escaped him as his hips and stomach were peppered with light kisses, each sending a small jolt of electricity through him. When Bill began to nip at the sensitive skin on his hips is when it sank in to Dipper that the demon may have a thing for biting and using his nails, as they were digging into his upper thigh. In all honesty, Dipper didn't mind it at all.

Bill gazed up at Dipper, hair hanging messily in his face and casting a shadow over brightly glowing eyes. He licked his lips slowly, causing the brunet's breath to hitch in his chest. The demon looked ready to devour him, and that's exactly what Dipper wanted him to do at this point.

The blond clearly got the message in Dipper's lust-laden gaze, for he quickly turned his attention to the hard member in front of him, licking up the bottom of the shaft before taking the head in his mouth. A sinful moan slipped from Dipper's lips as he was surrounded by the wet heat of Bill's mouth. He bit back a whine as the demon's teeth gently scraped against him. Bill's hands slipped up his thighs and went to his hips, nails biting into the tender flesh there.

Bill swirled his tongue around Dipper's length, bobbing his head tantalizingly slow. The whines and moans slipping from the brunet's mouth were leaving in plenty now as he threw any dignity he thought he had out the window in favour of milking this for all it was worth.

When Bill pulled off of him, once again gazing up at him with lustful eyes, Dipper's breath hitched. He decided to store the image of that look in the back of his mind in case the need for it ever arose, though it probably wouldn't because this _was_ his boyfriend. Dipper squeaked as he was lifted up and practically thrown onto the mattress fully, landing softly on his back, head bouncing against the pillows.

Once Dipper realized just what was happening, his entire face felt like it was burning with a blush. His embarrassment was quickly magnified as he watched Bill take his own pants off, tossing them to the same corner as the bow-tie. The demon sat down on the bed, beginning to crawl up the bed towards him. Dipper didn't try to hide anything under the predatory gaze of the golden-haired man who was now positioned over top of him.

Bill leaned down and pressed light kisses on Dipper's clavicle, slowly moving his mouth over his chest and down towards his stomach. He gave a light chuckle against Dipper's hipbone as the brunet shivered under all of the gentle touches stimulating him.

Bill lifted himself away from Dipper's body, up onto his wrists as he stared down at the brunet underneath him. The blond shifted so he was straddling Dipper's thighs. He ran his hands up and down the pale chest marred with scars, lightly scraping his nails against it and causing the skin to redden and rise slightly. He didn't dig the long, sharp nails in too much in fear of making more scars appear on the soft skin.

Dipper's eyes fluttered shut at the sensation, his whole body shaking slightly. Goosebumps rose on his arms and stomach, getting a small chuckle out of the blond. The human opened his eyes to look up at Bill. The demon's hands were on his hipbones, seemingly waiting for a sign that it was okay to continue on their exploration. Dipper gulped, holding up a finger to indicate that Bill wait just a moment. The blond moved off of him, allowing him to move if he needed or wanted to. The predatory look that had been in Bill's eyes had faded to a look of lust and love intermingling together. Dipper used his hands to push himself up onto the pillows a bit more, sitting up a bit.

“You doing okay?” Bill asked, his voice low and rough.

“Y-yeah...” Dipper trailed off, his voice shaky.

Bill looked at him questioningly, “If you're not ready for this, we don't have to...”

Dippers eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up, “Trust me when I say that I most definitely ready for this. It's just that...” he trailed off again, blushing furiously, “it's kind of my first time...” he finished, embarrassed.

Bill chuckled a bit, smiling at the brunet on the pillows, “I figured. If you want me to slow down at all, let me know.”

“I'll have to kill you if you slow down now. You have me so hard right now, the lack of touch is starting to get painful,” Dipper said through gritted teeth, relighting that spark of animosity behind the lust in his gaze.

“I think I like seeing you like this,” Bill hummed, moving and sitting between Dipper's open knees, rubbing his hands along his thighs. He leaned in toward the brunet's ear, breathlessly whispering: “Beg for me.”

“Please!” Dipper gasped out, eyes shutting, back arching off of the bed slightly, “Oh my god, Bill, just fuck me already!”

“Now that's what I wanted to hear,” Bill growled, his voice husky.

Dipper felt the blond demon get off the bed and heard a zipper undo. He felt the heat of his blush creep up his neck and over his shoulders. When Bill's footsteps came back over to the bed, the mattress creaking a bit as he added his own weight to it again, the brunet tensed up a bit. At the gentle touch of lithe fingers on the inside of his thighs though, he felt his entire body turn to putty, ready and waiting to be moulded by soft hands.

A tiny pop of a bottle cap barely registered before a single, slick finger pushed up against his entrance before pressing into him, his breath hitching at the feeling. Bill's other hand grabbed one of Dipper's legs and lifted it over his shoulder, the brunet's heel digging into his shoulder blade as he slowly pumped his finger in and out of the trembling human beneath him.

Slowly, Dipper relaxed, moving with the steady thrusts of Bill's finger inside of him. The blond pulled his hand away, earning a small whine, before he pressed back in with two fingers. Dipper gasped at the burning stretch, his back arching off the bed slightly as Bill pushed in, hitting him at an angle that had him shaking again. He trembled and moaned loudly as the demon scissored and stretched him, massaging his prostate all the while.

When the skilled fingers disappeared, Dipper mewled with a wanton need. He wriggled a bit at the loss of the burning stretch, only to have both of his legs lifted up and over Bill's shoulders as the demon leaned over him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before shifting so he was lined up with Dipper's entrance.

Slowly, Bill pushed into him. Dipper's hands went to the blond's shoulders, gripping him to the point where there were probably going to be bruises the next morning. He shook as he got used to being so full, panting heavily. Bill whispered soft, sweet nothings into his ear to help him relax.

When Dipper muttered his okay to start moving, Bill began to thrust in long and slow. Dipper had laid back onto the bed, hands falling back and gripping the sheets as his mouth fell open into a gasp. Bill's own hands were holding onto his thighs, his beautifully mismatched eyes closed tightly as he panted hotly.

Bill began to pick up pace, seemingly unable to hold himself back from it any longer. As he harshly pounded into Dipper, he tossed his head back, just as the brunet cracked his eyes open to watch. His breath caught as the black-tipped gold locks flew gracefully away from the glistening angular face. Chocolate coloured eyes were open to barely slits as they hungrily watched the beautiful man who was tearing into him. His hand dropped down to his own length and he began to stroke himself, hips moving with the pace Bill had set.

The demon shifted his position slightly, and Dipper let out a strangled cry as he pounded into the small bundle of nerves inside of him. Waves of white hot pleasure threatened to overcome Dipper as he trembled, his own hand picking up speed as their pace lost the controlled movements and tumbled into animosity.

With a cry of Bill's name, Dipper tumbled over the edge, spilling onto his hand and stomach, nearly blacking out at the force of his orgasm. When he finally came back down from his high, he burned at the over-stimulation as Bill's hips stuttered in their thrusts before stilling and spilling his load into Dipper.

After a moment, Bill pulled out, flopping onto the bed next to Dipper who tried to shove him away, complaining that they were gross and sticky.

“I don't think either of us have the energy to get up and clean ourselves up right now,” Bill mumbled into the pillow.

“I honestly can manage to get up and at least grab the damp cloth in the bowl of water on my night stand. Why is that there, by the way?” Dipper grumbled, sitting up with a wince.

“You get injured too much,” was the only response Bill gave as he rolled onto his back, watching Dipper.

The demon was quick to move and catch the brunet as his legs gave out beneath him, despite the claims that he was too tired to get up. “Lay down,” he grumbled halfheartedly, walking over to grab the cloth, hips continuing to swing like a pendulum. He rung the cloth out before gently wiping Dipper down, his touch gentle and careful.

Dipper fell asleep before Bill had even finished cleaning his chest up.

▲▼▲

When Dipper awoke next, it was with a groan, feeling too warm and too closed in. With apathy, Dipper attempted to push the source of heat and constraint away from himself, only for him to pull closer to the brunet.

“Bill,” Dipper grumbled, pushing him away with a bit more force, “It's too hot in here, get off me.”

“You weren't complaining yesterday...” Bill's voice was muffled by the human's shoulder.

“Well, right now I do mind because it's too warm to sleep like this,” was the irritated response.

With a displeased grumble, Bill reluctantly let go of Dipper, wrapping himself up in the comforter, facing away from the brunet. Dipper looked down at himself, a bit surprised to find that he was wearing pyjama pants. He smiled a bit when he realized that Bill had probably put them on him while he was asleep.

The brunet sat up, wincing slightly at how sore his whole body, legs in particular, was. He got up a bit shakily, steadying out after a few steps, and went to get dressed. He threw on an old tee-shirt and stonewashed jeans before looking to the corner where Bill's clothes from the previous day were. He suppressed a smirk when he saw the bright eyes peeking out from the edge of the blanket.

“Why don't you come out here and get dressed yourself?” Dipper chuckled lightly.

Right before Bill had the chance to answer though, the bedroom door burst open, making Dipper extremely grateful that he had decided to get dressed before this chaos happened. Mabel was standing in the doorway, Will at her side and a wild look in her eyes.

“What's wrong, Mabel?” Dipper asked, knowing the look on both hers and the demons faces meant that something was amiss.

“It's Tad. He's...” her voice caught in the middle of the sentence.

“Tad is here,” Will said, sneering a bit, “Meaning we can talk about _this_ ,” he gestured at the two who were still highly bed-mussed, “later.”

The embarrassment that Dipper knew he should feel at being caught almost red-handed, at least red-handed in the morning after, wasn't there. Instead, there was a burning rage at the fact that Tad dared to come onto his property after all that he had done to them.

The brunet stormed out of the door, golden flames flickering around his hands. He pushed past Pyronica and Kryptos who were standing in the front doorway, out onto the porch where he was greeted with the thin violet eyes and a wicked smile of Tad Strange.

“Get the hell out of here, Strange,” he said, magic swirling around him, not even noticing the gold wisps surrounding his entire being.

Tad, on the other hand, did notice this new development in the human. His grin grew as he watched the magic swirling, coiling, around the boy and now the demon who stood next to him. Bill looked at Dipper out of the corner of his eye, amazement edging it's way into the look he gave. It seemed that the golden-haired demon hadn't seen this new power either. Before Tad could comment on it though, Bill spoke.

“Tad, you clearly don't know just what you're messing with right now. I suggest you leave before a certain someone, or a few of us actually, give you the worst injuries you've ever had,” he sneered.

The violet-eyed demon's manic grin grew even more, if that was possible. “He's given me some rather harsh ones before, but I'd rather avoid those again while I'm still healing,” Tad chuckled lowly.

Dipper stepped forward, head held high and golden magic twisting more violently around him before flashing brightly. When everyone could see again, what they saw left them all breathless.

Standing directly in front of Tad Strange was Dipper, pure, though clipped, wings open wide and gold fire alight in his hands.

Tad scrambled back, the sheer force of the Nephilim's power knocking him to the ground in the flash. With a final sneer, the demon yelled: “This doesn't mean you have a chance at winning, Cipher!” before twisting the shadows around him and disappearing.

Dipper folded his wings back against him, flicking the ends slightly in irritation. He turned around to see three of the four demons and his sister standing there with wide eyes and gaping jaws. The fourth demon on the other hand, had a proud look in his mismatched eyes as he strode forward to the brunet.

“You're certainly not a human, like I had thought for the longest time,” Bill purred, smiling gently at the nervous nephilim. He reached his hand out to touch the soft feathers of Dipper's wings, “They're beautiful...” he muttered softly, gently stroking the delicate appendage.

Dipper shivered, “That feels really weird.”

“I'm guessing no one has touched these before,” Bill stated. It wasn't a question; simply a fact that the demon knew.

The nephilim shook his head, soft locks swishing around his face. “The same thing with the wings happened the last time Tad was around. He got me mad, I was in pain, and then poof; there they were,” Dipper explained.

Bill hummed, “I want to look into this more. Until then, though, I think that supper sounds like a good idea.”

Dipper nodded in response, “I don't think any of us want to cook...” he paused, thinking, before calling out to the others, “Anyone up for Greasy's?”

Four affirmative yells responded to his question.

“Um, Dipper?” Mabel called out to him, “I don't think you should go into town with your, uh, wings out like that. It may freak out some of the townsfolk.”

“Oh, right,” the Pines man mumbled, focusing his energy on containing his powers. Another flash of golden light later, and the blue-tipped wings were no longer to be seen.

“To Greasy's!” Bill called out excitedly, jumping in the air before running on ahead of the others.

Dipper's worries weren't going to simply disappear like that though. All the way through dinner, the troubling thoughts spun tales of What-ifs and caused him to be jumpy. One thought was worrying him in particular though.

What had he become?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more thing that I need to say is that, holy shit, I'm going to stop writing, maybe even going as far as deleting my other fic, A Siren's Song, if the thirst for new chapters literally a day after I update doesn't stop. It isn't my main, this one is, so please don't recommend it if you've read it, recommend this one instead.
> 
> That being said, I am still glad everyone enjoys it, but the enjoyment of it may have to wait until this fic (and maybe even it's series) is done in full.


	15. Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back from hiatus and you're all going to hate me

A long sigh passed Dipper's lips as he flipped through the journals yet again. He was trying to find why Tad Strange was a name that seemed so familiar, but the person, demon technically, was so different from what he found looked right. A cracking sound and the sadly familiar taste of ink alerted him that he had broken another pen. The brunet grumbled and tossed the broken writing utensil into the trash bin, marking his page in the old book and closing it.

He put the tome in a drawer he had made specifically for the trilogy of them, sliding it easily into place in its designated spot. The old spines, faded from the years, stared up at him. Oh, how he wished that the books could simply speak to him, instead of needing to be thoroughly searched through, wasting precious hours he could be using in planning their battle plan against Tad.

Soft footsteps informed Dipper that he had a visitor. He leaned back in his desk chair, head hanging so that everything was upside-down. Well, everything should have been upside-down, but less than a foot away was Bill's face, perfectly right-side-up.

“I don't know why it never occurred to me that you have the ability to float still,” Dipper mumbled, pressing his lips against the demon's in a quick kiss.

“I'm surprised you hadn't noticed that I'm almost never actually touching the ground when around you,” Bill responded with a grin.

“Why, do I take you to cloud nine?” the brunet laughed, sitting up properly and turning around in his chair to look at the upside-down demon.

The blond only laughed and flipped himself right-side-up, continuing to float cross-legged, almost a meter in the air.

Dipper chuckled at his boyfriend, revelling in that thought for a moment. His boyfriend. The demon who had saved- or had it been destroyed?- the town. Thoughts began to get muddled for a moment in his head, unsure which one was supposed to be there and which one wasn't. A sharp pain shook reality around him as he was brought back to the past; if it was a true past or not, he didn't know.

Dipper let out a yell at the pain in his head, hands pressing on his temples and eyes slamming shut. Blue fire, the books burning, a rift in reality high up in the sky, luckily contained to the town of Gravity Falls. The smell of smoke and burning flesh threatened to consume him as he rushed through the thick air, calling out for Mabel, Stan, Ford, anyone. He saw a twisted, blurred face sneer down at him as he tripped over a dug up pipe. It hissed cruel words down at him before snapping it's gloved fingers, engulfing the boy in a cold darkness.

Dipper gasped clean yet stale air into his lungs, snapping out of the vision. Soft hands gripped his shoulders tightly, shaking him just a tiny bit to make sure he really was back. He opened his eyes to find Bill looking down at him, a highly concerned expression on his face.

“Shooting Star, we have a problem!” Bill yelled out, looking towards the door, “It just happened again! And I don't think that it was the way that was originally planned, 'cause he looks terrified of me right this second!”

“What even happened when we were twelve,” Dipper muttered, rubbing his temples once he had managed to tear his fearful gaze away from Bill's face.

“It's better that you don't know, Pine Tree...” Bill sighed, running a hand through his already ruffled hair, “It's one of those things that are better left alone.”

At that moment, Mabel tumbled through the doorway, a fearful, manic look in her eyes. When she saw that Dipper wasn't having another attack, she let herself calm down slightly.

“Shooting Star, I can feel your stress from over here, we've got this under control, for now at least. Just help me get him over to the bed and settled down,” Bill said, gesturing for the female Pines twin to come to them.

Immediately, Mabel was at her twins side, supporting one arm while the blond demon got the other side. Carefully, the two of them brought Dipper over to the bed, sitting him on the edge. Mabel lifted the blanket up and put it around her brother's shoulders before sitting next to him.

“Is everything alright, Bro-bro?” She asked, putting a hand on her twin's arm.

Dipper nodded, “I think so. The stress of this whole situation with Tad is getting to me; it's bringing up weird visions or something, and that isn't helping anything...”

Mabel gave him a sympathetic smile that morphed into a tired grimace. She leaned her head on his shoulder, her arm around his back, Bill on the Pines man's other side, arm around him, just above Mabel's.

Time lost it's meaning to the three of them, each lost in their own thoughts as they all sat there for an indeterminate amount of time. The silence stretched on for a long time, until a quiet humming from Dipper broke it. The hum turned into quiet singing after a point.

“ _Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness, and I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life..._ ” he sang, his voice barely above a whisper. Mabel and Bill listened to him as he went back to simply humming the tune. At one point he had switched tunes to something else that neither recognized, and then faded out to the pressing silence.

Mabel got up with a grunt. “I should probably go see how the others are doing...” she trailed off, the only responses a small nod and a hum of assent.

The Pines woman quietly left the room, carefully shutting the door behind her as she went, leaving the two men alone.

Dipper leaned into Bill more, letting the blond demon's body heat envelope him as he was pulled down into a hug, the two laying down on the bed together. The brunet pulled back from the hug, just barely, just enough to see Bill's face. He looked into the bright, mismatched eyes of Bill, getting lost in them a little as the world around him seemed to melt away with them.

A knock on the door an eternity, or a few seconds, later, broke the spell. Slowly, more light spilled into the room as a mop of blue hair poked in from the other side of the door. Will was peeking into the room and, upon spotting them fully clothed, walked in.

“I told you that we would be talking about this, didn't I?” he said, a collected look on his face.

“I'm guessing that's why you're here?” Bill mumbled, trying to hide his face from his twin.

“ _That_ is exactly why I'm here. You know that you aren't supposed to use your magic for that kind of thing, right?” Will sighed, sitting in Dipper's empty desk chair.

“I'm not sure what you mean. All I did was put a simple silencing spell on the room. Nothing suspicious there,” Bill argued, “well, okay, yes it could be considered suspicious, but not in our current situation with how we're sitting with Tad.”

“You see, if I thought that the two of you put a silencing spell on the room to simply keep _Tad_ from hearing your _discussion_ , then I wouldn't be here telling you off about improper use of magic,” the blue-haired demon shot, “Either way, at least wait until there's no one in the house but the two of you. I think you both forget I can hear your thoughts if I want to, and sometimes even if I don't.”

At that, Dipper turned bright red and pressed his face into the pillow, trying very hard to block Will out; both mentally and physically.

“Really, Pines? You know that you're making negative productivity on that, right?” Will laughed, “I mean seriously, you're almost projecting your thoughts at me like that.”

Dipper let out a struggled, muffled yell, burying his face deeper into the pillow underneath his head and causing both of the Cipher twins to laugh. A few minutes passed like that, the pair of demons teasing the Nephilim boy and laughing together. When all fell silent a again, Dipper's mind was drawn back to a thought that had crossed his mind earlier in the day.

“Hey...” he said quietly, sitting up, “There was something that I was wondering about earlier, and I think the two of you may have a bit of knowledge on the topic.”

“Well, what is it Pine Tree? Shoot from the hip and tell it like it is,” Bill replied, sitting up next to him.

“Okay, so earlier I was reading the journals again, looking for anything on Tad that could be in there, and I began to think about how much easier it would be if I could simply ask the journals for the information instead of spending hours on end flipping through the pages,” Dipper explained, going to the drawer and grabbing the first journal from it's comfortable spot in the drawer.

Will hummed at the idea. “Well, it wouldn't be the first time someone has made an inanimate object become a being with a consciousness,” he said finally, taking out the other two books and laying them on the floor in order.

“Wait, you can do it?” Dipper questioned, shocked.

“Kid we can more than give it a consciousness,” Bill added in, moving to stand beside his twin, “We can literally bring it to life.”

“I would back up if I were you,” Will suggested, plucking the first journal out of Dipper's hands while pushing him back a bit.

The brunet sat as far back on the bed as he could as he watched matching blue flames from the demons' hands wrap around the journals and lift them into the air. The forms of the books began to waver and change as strange words from long-lost languages spilled from the demon twins' mouths. Their forms continued to morph until the once-books stood as full humans in the middle of Dipper's bedroom.

The tallest of the men turned to look at Dipper, glasses low on his nose. “It's a pleasure that I can finally speak to you, Dipper Pines. I'm the first journal, but you can call me Eins,” he said, holding his tattooed hand out for Dipper to shake.

Dipper accepted the hand, inspecting the tattoos a bit more closely only to notice that they were the same as the patterns and drawings in the first journal. Not only were there the symbols, but Dipper was certain that he was able to discern a few words and sentences peeking out of the top of Eins shirt collar.

The second and third man both turned around to face Dipper, standing on either side of Eins. One held up to fingers and simply said: “Zwei.” While the smaller one held up three fingers and said: “Drei.”

“One, two, and three,” Dipper whispered, staring at the three in awe. He noticed how, while Eins and Zwei both looked mature and all-knowing, Drei seemed to be a little less so. His eyes still had a certain wise look about them, but he looked much younger; his coat loosely hanging off of his shoulders and monocle slipping occasionally. “You're unfinished...” he muttered, mostly to himself.

Drei nodded, a calm look on his rounded, youthful face, “I am not finished. I am not all-knowing yet, but you did give me more things to know.” he said, voice higher than Eins, “I don't know all of the things, only some of them,” he concluded with a shrug.

“Well, well, well. Look at what we have here...” Zwei said, turning to look at the two demons at the back of the room, “Not often the devil's hands touch us, but I'm not complaining; particularly if we're talking about the reverse one.”

Dipper carefully watched the different reactions of each of the journals-turned-human. Eins seemed a bit curious as to why they were there, Zwei, well, he seemed genuinely interested in the two in more than a curious manner, but what startled Dipper was Drei's reaction. Drei saw Bill and immediately moved backwards, the look in his eyes much more concentrated and dangerous than he ever would have thought it could get.

Simultaneously, the elder two of the three journals turned to look at Drei, who had begun to shift in colour scheme. His skin darkened into a deep purple, bright white designs glowing to contrast. At that moment, it clicked in Dipper's head as to what was happening.

“Don't summon at all costs...” Dipper and Drei said in unison, making the others in the room flick their eyes back and forth between the two.

Drei turned around, still glowing eerily, and smiled at Dipper. “I know that you know me front to back, inside and out. You have spent days upon weeks upon months studying the information I have, even if it isn't much in comparison to my brothers. You found this power I have out on your own after making the grave mistake of reading aloud from my pages,” he said, his voice much smoother than it had been in his normal form, “We are friends, Dipper Pines, and I hope you heed the words your Great-uncle wrote: _**Trust No One.**_ ”

At those words, Drei suddenly collapsed, being caught last minute by Eins. “We'll be back when you call, Dipper. For now though, we need to take care of this... situation.”

Eins lifted Drei up and walked over to Zwei, who quirked his eyebrow at the youngest of the three, before all three disappeared in a suck of black and pop of white.

“Pine Tree-” Bill started after a moment.

“No. I need some time,” he said, not looking at the blond demon across the room, “I need some space to think properly.”

“...Alright. Just know that I am not the same as back then...” Bill said, “I've changed, and I know that you can tell.”

Dipper stood in the middle of his room, waiting for the Cipher twins to leave. Once he heard the door close, he turned around to face the old wooden door that was now separating him from the past he truly knows, and the present that had begun to crush in on him.

It hadn't happened like he thought it would. His memories didn't give him a wave of nausea and a pounding headache, just took his heart and left him feeling empty. He had always felt like there was no way Bill was... well, the “memories” he had had up until this point didn't seem to add up quite right.

With a sigh, he backed up until his knees hit the edge of his bed and sat down, hands rubbing his face and running through his hair. He pulled a bit, trying to find something to distract him from the aching emptiness he felt in his chest. His breath caught in his throat as he did his best to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from tightly closed lashes.

The first tear fell when he lay down. The second fell when he looked at the empty place next to him, unsure if he would ever be able to fill it again in fear of being tricked. The third and fourth fell when he pressed his face into the pillow, only to smell a comforting smell turned sour. Slowly, the tears fell, each with a new revelation accompanied by a memory that seemed far too old.

It was a few hours later, the sky starting to darken, when there was a soft knock on the door. By then, Dipper had taken to simply staring at the ceiling, tears occasionally rolling down his cheeks, unmoving.

Opening the door a crack, Mabel poked her head in before stepping in fully, Pacifica right behind her.

“Hey,” she said, giving her twin a weak smile, “I brought you some Mabel Juice to try and cheer you up, sans plastic dinosaurs and with extra sparkles.”

The only response she got was a heavy sigh, followed by a sniffle. Her weak smile faded as she gave a desperate glance to the blond girl beside her. The two women went over to Dipper's bed and sat on the edge. They worked together to pull him into a sitting position against the wall, right between them.

“Remember that time we ended up switching bodies because we couldn't agree on who got the spare room?” Mabel asked, turning her head slightly to look at her brother, “Soos and Waddles ended up getting switched too. Do you remember that?”

A slight nod.

“What about that time with the Lilliputtians? That was a pretty fun day honestly, even if I almost got killed,” Pacifica added on, turning to face Dipper as well, “The two of you were wild out there.”

A twitch of the corner of his mouth this time.

“And Mermando?” Mabel chuckled, elbowing her twin, “I knew you weren't straight after that one.”

“Oh come on, Mabel,” Dipper said, turning a bit to look at her, “I know that that's a lie.”

“You answered me!” she exclaimed happily, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

With a muffled, regretfully affirmative noise, Dipper found himself engulfed in the arms of both his sister and probably future sister-in-law. He tried to push himself out of their grasp, complaining that he couldn't breathe.

“Now, what do you want for dinner?” Mabel asked, “You don't have to come downstairs to eat; I can bring the plate to you.”

“Just make something simple, Mabel. I'm not too hungry right now anyways,” Dipper said, a light laugh slipping out.

The two girls glanced at each other before nodding and leaving the room once more.

Once again in his solitude, Dipper let the smile slip from his face and a sigh fall from his lips. He hated lying like that to his sister, but right now, he couldn't let her get discouraged as well.

Dipper lay down again, his heart heavy and hurting, before snapping back up and whispering a single phrase into seemingly empty air.

“ _Verum in paginis quareres_ ,” Dipper said, a flash of light appearing before it faded into the form of Zwei.

“So you learned the truth and remembered what you used to write in the margins of our pages,” he said, looking down at Dipper.

“I need to know more,” Dipper replied.

“What more is there to know?” Zwei asked, “You have your memories back, and that means you've remembered what us journals have in store for you now.”

“I need to know what could have happened to Tad Strange to make him how he is now. I need to know a possible creature or demon that would be able to do things like that to a person,” he explained, “And don't tell me that it would be Bill, because even if I know what he's really like, he wouldn't put that much effort into something just because he wanted to fight it.”

Zwei shook his head, “That's something I don't know. Cipher is only briefly mentioned in the knowledge that I have.”

Dipper thought for a moment before calling out another phrase: “ _Cum electio sequatur incipiamus per._ ”

Another flash of light and Eins was standing in the room beside Zwei.

“I need you to tell me two things, Eins,” he said simply.

“He remembers?” Eins asked Zwei.

Zwei simply shrugged, “It seems so.”

“Eins, I need you to tell me if there is any other creature that could manipulate peoples' thoughts and actions like Bill can; other demons with that power,” Dipper said, cutting the journals' conversation short.

“As far as I know, only the Cipher twins possess the power to manipulate and possess people. If you're thinking that's what happened to Strange, I would have to say that you're off by a mile. He isn't possessed; he's become a demon,” Eins explained.

“Next: do you know how Cipher was able to break free from his prison?”

“That would have been caused by your Great-uncle's death. He was trapped in Stanley's mind, and now that he's deceased, the prison that was created for Bill went as well,”was all the reasoning Eins gave.

Dipper looked away at that, staring at the old picture of his sister, Stan, and him fishing on his desk. When he turned back towards the journals, they were gone.

A knock on his door alerted him to his sister's presence. She poked her head in and held out a plate to him. Silently, he took the plate with a small smile. Mabel nodded and left him alone.

He sat down on his bed and looked at the plate of lasagna. He was a little bit afraid to eat it in case Mabel had decided that the sauce needed glitter again, but worked up the nerve to just take a bite. At that bite though, he felt himself tearing up as he remembered the first time he had had this.

It wasn't Mabel who had made dinner it seemed; it was Bill. It was Bill's homemade lasagna to be exact, the very same one that he had eaten the day they 'met'.

He surprised himself by eating the entire piece in very little time, memories of simpler times passing though his mind the entire time. Dipper grit his teeth as he stood up to bring the plate down to the kitchen.

All eyes were on him as he silently made his way to the sink, rinsing his plate off before putting it on the small stack of plates already there.

“Pine Tree... can we talk for a bit?” a familiar, sad voice asked.

The Pines man turned around to look at the hurting face of Bill Cipher, ex-dream demon, and tried not to immediately cave.

“Alright, but not here. Not where you nearly ruined everything for my family and betrayed my Great-uncle Ford so many times,” Dipper said.

Bill nodded, seemingly ashamed, “Let's go for a walk then.”

The two left the house silently, neither sure what to say to break the tension that had built up between the two of them.

They passed the edge of the forest, Dipper taking the lead as they began to make their way through the thick underbrush. They walked for a while, neither willing to break the silence between them in fear of saying the wrong thing. They stopped when they reached a familiar small clearing with a now frozen pond in the centre. The north sides of the trees once covered in soft moss were now bare and frozen, and the water lilies that once lined the edges of the pond were shrivelled and frost-bitten. Still the little, bright bugs drifted around though, seemingly unfazed by the bitter winter air.

Dipper was the one who broke the silence: “So what is it that you wanted to tell me, Cipher?”

The cold tone mixed with the formality stung, that Bill would admit. “I just wanted to tell you that I really have changed. You bring out something inside me that I never knew I wanted, Pine- ... Dipper, and now that I have it, if I ever lose it... I don't know what I'd do,” the demon said, lifting his finger for the little golden-lit bug to land on. When the small creature touched his skin, all of the rest seemed to follow, coming to rest on his body one at a time until he was covered in them, glowing brightly in the dark of the night.

The phenomenon didn't go unnoticed by the insects' creator. Dipper stared as Bill was slowly covered in little glow-flies, the light shining off of the snow and ice, creating a beautiful, golden light show. Cautiously, the Pines man approached the demon and touched one of the bugs, the light from it turning a rich, royal blue, others quickly following suit until there were just as many blue as there were gold.

Dipper stepped back as all of the glow-flies simultaneously broke free from Bill to fly around the two of them in an intricate dance, the light show becoming a hundred times more brilliant and breathtaking.

Bill looked over at Dipper, his heart stuttering at the look of pure, unadulterated awe that covered his features and lit his eyes from the inside. There was that feeling again; the one where it seemed like he was seeing his Pine Tree for the first time all over again. His heart stuttered and swelled, a plea growing more and more insistent in his mind the longer he looked on.

“There was one thing I really wanted to ask of you though, and I didn't want anyone else to hear it,” Bill whispered, his voice seeming much louder in the silence than it really was.

Dipper turned back to look at him, an unreadable expression on his face, “Then ask it. There's no better time than now.”

“I need you to tell me that you love me, just once, before it's goodbye,” Bill asked, his voice cracking and desperate, “because I love you, Dipper Pines; so much that it hurts me physically.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is actually a day late. I've changed my update schedule from whenever I get chapters done to the 1st and 15th of every month until the story is done. This is actually the main turning point of the story, leading to the final arc. There should be about 20 chapters maybe more or maybe less depending how things work out.
> 
> Also, thanks to all of you who commented, kudosed and bookmarked this, as well as a huge thanks to femkageyamatobiospeaks on tumblr for beta-ing this chapter.


	16. Rifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am shit at updating but I have a legit reason this time
> 
>  
> 
> my power has been going in and out and our phone line was disconnected

“I can't.”

Those two words echoes around the clearing, and Bill felt his heart breaking. He opened his mouth to try and respond, but Dipper held his hand up to stop him.

“I can't; not right now at least,” Dipper continued, “I will before 'goodbye' comes, but it isn't here yet. This isn't goodbye, it's just me needing some space to think.”

“Do you promise me that? Do you promise everything you just said?” Bill asked desperately.

“I promise,” the Pines man replied, hesitating for a moment before turning his attention back to the glow-flies.

Bill watched on, realizing that, even if he had the entire multiverse at his fingertips, neither its brilliance nor its size could even begin to compare to that of the impact Dipper Pines had in his life; in his mind. He froze at that thought. Dipper Pines was his entire world, his entire being, without denial, and that terrified him. He, Bill Cipher, and all-seeing dream demon with immeasurable power, was scared of losing a literal child of an angel that he once thought was human. Under regular circumstances, it would probably sound wildly far-fetched, but, taking into account the humanity-link the two had, it actually made perfect sense.

Dipper forced himself to not look at Bill. He knew that if he looked at the beautiful, blond demon, he would break, and he couldn't afford to do that. He couldn't let himself break like that and tell Bill the one thing he wanted so desperately to. It was the first time that those three words were exchanged between the two, and it made him want to cry.

Right before him was proof that Bill Cipher had changed heart. He knew now what Bill was like before, and how different he was now, how sincere he was, and it hurt that he couldn't just forgive him right away. _Why can't I though?_ He thought, _I mean, I want to...no, I can't because he broke my trust and lied to me._ He shook his head a little bit, trying to get the minor intrusive thoughts out of his head.

“We should probably get heading back to the shack...” Bill mumbled, looking around the clearing.

“Yeah, we should,” Dipper replied with a sigh.

The two of them began to walk back, but this time, not in silence.

“Listen,” Dipper started with a sigh, “I do forgive you for lying and screwing with my memories, but it's not like can just forget about that fact and let things go back to how they were before. I trusted you and you took advantage of that, effectively breaking that trust I had put in you.”

“Are you willing to give me another chance to earn your trust back?” Bill asked, glancing at the brunet walking next to him.

“I told you that it wasn't goodbye, so what do you think?” he replied, a small, gentle smile on his face as he glanced back at the demon.

▲▼▲

A loud squeal tore through the Shack, waking the sleeping Pines man as he all but fell out of bed. Shaking his head to clear it, Dipper sat up groggily, wondering why he had fallen out of bed so easily before remembering the events of the previous day. With a heavy sigh, the brunet forced himself to get up and get dressed. Once in his day clothes, Dipper made his way downstairs to the source of the squeal that woke him up.

There in the kitchen were his sister, Pacifica, and the four demons, three out of four of them standing around the fourth, who was sitting in a chair.

Bill sat in the centre of all of them, obviously uncomfortable with his situation. Catching Dipper's eye, he sent him a pleading look to which the Pines man simply shrugged and went to make himself a cup of coffee.

Once properly fuelled with caffeine, he turned to the group of people standing in the middle of the kitchen. “So what's the deal with all of this?” he asked, hopping up and sitting on the counter.

“We have news on Tad,” Will said, grinning from ear to ear.

“No way. What the hell did you get?” Dipper asked, suddenly very alert.

Bill took out a map from the inside of his vest, “I was waiting for everyone to be here to take it out. It isn't much, but it may help in keeping our own plans hidden from Tad easier,” he explained, “It's a map of where his magical cameras are hidden around the forest perimeter. He can't place any in the forest itself since it's under my protection, but he can watch the Shack like a hawk; at least he can for the outside. The map also has a few cameras in town placed on it.”

“Are you kidding?” Mabel asked, her voice low, “This is more than we could have asked for; other than Tad's head on a stick at least.”

Dipper had to agree with her on that one; it was pretty amazing. How Bill had managed to find those cameras was beyond him, but he was overly grateful for the small red dots placed strategically around the map of Gravity Falls and its surrounding area.

“What are we going to do; what's our plan of action?” Kryptos asked, rubbing their hands together in an almost menacing way.

“Avoid them,” Will said bluntly, “Don't do anything to them but stay out of their view. If we destroy them, or alter any of their properties, Tad will know that we know that they're there, and probably change the location of that one, or all of them.”

Dipper nodded. “Will's right, we can't do anything about them unless we want to risk losing this one piece of information, and that's something that we can't afford,” he explained.

A few minutes passed in silence, all of them thinking about their situation, before Dipper spoke up again.

“So who was it that squealed like that? I know it wasn't Mabel.”

They all turned to Will, who's face turned bright pink, contrasting his hair perfectly.

▲▼▲

A low growl resounded down the dark hallways of the Strange manor, footsteps echoing with loud clacking each time the man took a step. At the end of the hallway stood a large, wooden door with brass fixings. Thin, pale fingers reached out and twisted the doorknob harshly, the door creaking violently as it was thrown open.

“Too close, Strange. They're getting far too close to finding out the truth behind all of this,” the man snarled, glaring at the violet-eyed demon cowering at his desk, “Not just that, but you're getting far too cocky. Remember where you stand on this. You are not the leader of this operation to take down Cipher, I am, and I will forcefully ingrain it into your mind if it doesn't get through to you soon. This is your only warning...”

“Yes, sir,” Tad said, his voice small, “I have new information for you as well, if you would like to hear it.”

No answer for a moment before, “... what is this 'new information'? If it isn't to my standards of important, then I'll have to punish you for wasting my time.”

Tad gulped, remembering the last 'punishment' that was inflicted on him. “I bet you remember about the fact that Dipper Pines, Cipher's soulmate, is truly a Nephilim. Would I be correct to assume that, sir?” he asked, receiving a nod in response, “Well, It seems that his power is only growing.”

“Growing? How exactly is his power 'growing'?” the man asked, clearly both enraged and curious about this face.

“When I had him here alone and he had his outburst, his power was only enough to rival my own, a third level demon, a knight, but the last time I was there in person, he was much different,” Tad explained, “I don't think he knows just how strong he is. When he released his magic, the sheer force of it was enough to blow me off my feet, but that's not what worries me.”

“That isn't all? You, the demon with the strongest defensive magic, being blown away by nothing but the release of another being's power isn't the worrying part of all this?”

Tad shook his head, “No, sir. The worrying part of it was the colour of the Soul Fire.”

The man's already pale face blanched, “What colour was it, Strange?” he growled out, the smallest hint of panic hiding within the aggressive tone.

“It was pure gold, sir. Even more so than the Last One's Soul Fire was. It was more gold than Cipher's fire used to be,” Tad whispered, unable to raise his voice any louder than it was.

The man standing before Tad turned around with a snarl, long coat flying behind him. “Start forming the troops. We have to cut this off before it get's out of our control,” he said, slamming the door to Tad's office as he left.

Taking deep breaths to calm himself, Tad turned away from the door. It was already out of their control, but there was no way he would tell his boss that. In reality, Tad wanted to go back to how things were before he made that stupid deal, but no, he couldn't. He had accidentally become the pawn for a demon that was far more powerful than he, and in turn, created what was probably becoming a demonic turf war that he didn't even want to be a part of in the first place!

Never once had he cared about controlling the forest. Not once in his entire life had he ever wanted to take on all of that power and responsibility. Tad Strange was the odd one out in Gravity Falls, only wanting to live his life like a normal human would, successfully choosing the worst town to do that in. He was just like the average human in any other city or township in the United States before he had gotten wrapped up in this, and had once stood out in a good way for that, but now he blended in, a demon disguised as a human and back to how his life was before the peaceful times had settled in.

He remembered the first demonic war. That time was much like this one, only being settled after the Nephilim's commander forced a truce by trading his soul for that of a demon. It was, in all technicality, the Nephilim's leader, but with the soul of a demon. After the truce was made, the Nephilim left, muttering words of betrayal about their now ex-leader, while the demons openly swore against their new supposed ally.

Slowly, the new demon grew to great power, a title being granted to him that none had gotten before him; a title that he shared with his twin, a slightly lesser demon that had traded his soul when his twin did. The two became rulers of the demonic world over the centuries, each truly living up to their new nature. It seemed that even if they truly embraced their new roots, the pure demons would still look down on them, particularly the ones who were loyal to the last ruler.

It just so happened that the demon who Tad had found himself wrapped up in a deal gone wrong with was one of those who were loyal to the previous ruler.

Tad let out a heavy sigh. He had to fix this... but how was he supposed to without alerting his boss to what he was doing? The Cipher twins, particularly Bill since he was the one who tied himself to the land, were good at caring for the forest and its creatures. Well, except for when Bill went on his rampages, which rarely happened anymore.

 _Wait,_ Tad thought, _that's it!_

All he had to do was get Bill to go on a rampage and then it would be clear that they have their hands full... not only that, if he went to the door to the Mystery Shack again, making sure that his boss was watching, he would probably evoke Dipper's rage, letting his boss see for sure just what they were dealing with, and how dangerous it was.

▲▼▲

That was how Tad ended up at the front door of the Mystery Shack for the second time in three days. Even though he had his plan perfectly mapped out in his mind, he had a lingering feeling that things were not going to go the way he thought they would.

Tentatively, he went and knocked on the old, wooden door. It took all of ten seconds for the door to open and then promptly slam in his face again.

“Wait!” he cried out, jamming his foot in the crack between the door and it's frame at the last second, “I'm not your enemy here.”

“That's the biggest damn lie I've ever heard,” the voice of Mabel Pines hissed out from the other side of the door, her narrowed eyes visible in the open sliver of the door.

“Let's hear him out,” another voice, one he only vaguely remembered, said, “I have a feeling he's telling the truth.”

A scoff was heard, “Are you serious, Kryptos? He kidnapped Pine Tree and has had it out for us for a while.”

“Please!” Tad whispered urgently, “If I'm found here right now, I'll probably be killed. I need you to hear me out on this.”

There was silence for almost a full minute until...

“You have ten minutes, Strange,” the door opened to reveal Will standing there, a curious expression on his face.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, stepping into the old Shack.

Looking around, he noted how little it seemed to have changed from the last time he had been inside it. Cheap nick-knacks still stood on the shelves, though with a considerable larger amount of dust, since they weren't actively being sold anymore, and the wallpaper was the same, even if it was peeling a bit more than before. Seeing the old building looking so similar to the past brought a wave of nostalgia over Tad.

“Now, what is it?” the Cipher twins growled in unison.

“I meant what I said before; I'm not your enemy. If anything, I'm actually a misplaced ally,” Tad started, “Before you call me crazy, let me explain.”

“We will, but why choose now of all times to come to us?” Dipper asked calmly.

The violet-eyed demon sighed deeply, “Because of what's been asked of me. My boss seems to think that he can defeat you, even though this is practically a repeat of when the Cipher twins came over the forest.”

“Oh that's just great news,” Bill sighed sarcastically, “So now what is it? You want us to protect you from him? Bad news for you, that's not happening.”

“No, I want to become your spy,” Tad grinned, “I give you inside information, and, in exchange, you don't kill me. Sound like a good deal?”

“What's the catch?” Mabel asked, highly suspicious of the whole situation.

Bill spoke up, catching everyone off guard, “Tad isn't like me; there is no catch.”

“I mean what I say, and I say what I mean,” the demon in question commented with a nod.

Mabel stuck her hand out, offering a hand shake, “I'll make this deal, if only for my brother's sake.”

Tad gave the Pines woman a small smile before accepting her hand. Bright, violet flames licked up both of their arms, starting where their palms connected. A moment after they reached the pair's shoulders, the flames disappeared.

“Now that that's done, I need to go,” Tad said curtly, “I'm probably going to get a bad enough... well, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble, being even this late.”

In a flash of purple light, Tad was gone.

“That was certainly... odd, to say the least,” Dipper said after a moment.

The group nodded in agreement. “In any case, we now have a spy,” Bill added casually.

Dipper looked over at Bill, who caught his glance and nodded towards the door. The Pines man returned the nod and began to get up. “Just going for a bit of a walk,” he said to Mabel, who had opened her mouth to question him.

He slid his shoes on and left the house, not checking to see if Bill was following. They both knew where to meet up.

His feet carried him all the way to downtown Gravity Falls, back to the apartment building that his life turned right back around in. He still had his key, so he let himself in, walking down the hallways and up the stairs to a familiar set of doors. Ignoring Bill's old apartment, he made his way to his own, unlocking the door and stepping in.

The walls were only mostly bare; a couple posters were on the wall from before. His couch and tables were still there, a thin layer of dust covering their surfaces. He wandered to his old bedroom, finding the drawers open and empty, and the bed bare. On the beside table though, there was a photo in a frame. Picking it up, Dipper saw his Grunkle Stan's smiling face. On either side of the old man's face were one of the twins, identical grins and fishing hats that bore their names on them.

“The door was open, so I let myself in,” a quiet voice said from behind him.

It felt like there was a lump in his throat, making him unable to reply. Dipper stared down at the picture, remembering his first summer in Gravity Falls. The images flashed through his mind quickly, filling him with nostalgia. Carefully, he took the image out of it's frame and tucked it into his sweater pocket.

Turning around, Dipper saw Bill standing there, back in the physical form that he had the first time they saw each other. The two stood there in silence for a moment before Dipper cleared his throat and asked: “Could you maybe go back to looking the other way? I've gotten used to you being taller than me.”

With a nod and flash of blue fire, Bill was standing there. His dark-tipped hair and mismatched eyes looking brighter in the apartment's light. Dipper let out a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping. “What's happened to us?” he asked, exasperated.

Bill just shook his head. “I don't know,” he admitted, “but I don't like it. I know that you can't just push aside everything that happened in the past, but I hope that you can give me another chance sometime in the near future.”

“I can't say much about the future, but I do know about the present,” the Pines man replied, walking up to Bill and taking his hands in his own, “I'm not saying anything about it being immediately fixed right now, but there is something that I have to do, even if it's the last time I do it for a while.”

With that, he leaned in and pressed their lips together in a soft, closed kiss. It felt nice, but there was a sadness to it. Their lips gently moved against each other as they cherished this last, private moment. Even once the kiss was broken, Dipper stayed in Bill's arms, not wanting this to end. He wanted to simply go back to how things were before, but he couldn't; not without time. He needed time to heal, time to think and put together his feelings again. As much as he hated it, he had to end this moment, no matter how much he wanted it to last forever.

Carefully, Dipper withdrew himself from Bill's embrace, recreating a rift between the two of them that he hadn't noticed before. The few feet in between them felt like so much more; it felt like miles instead of the short feet it was.

“Who says things can't go back to how they were?” Bill asked, holding out a hand covered in blue flames.

A sad smile rose on Dipper's face, “The safety of the world says so.”

The flames went out, leaving the two standing there, a few feet separating them physically, but miles separating them emotionally.

“You're right. We can't go back if we want to save the people we care about,” Bill agreed.

With those final words, the two turned and left the apartment, beginning the walk back to the Shack.

 


	17. A/N

Alright, my lovely patient readers who probably want to kill me for the 6 or so month hiatus and only showing up again to give you this A/N...

 

Photographs is over. However I'm going to give you good news.

 

It's going to get a sequel soon enough.

 

Echoes will be up by the end of March with it's first and maybe second chapter if I don't like... abandon this fic series again.

 

Anyways, feel free to hate me in the comments, or encourage the sequel or just talk to me whatever  ~~im lonely~~ because i love hearing what yall think.

 

I'll be back soon enough, so I guess see you soon!!


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